


i've got this friend

by lotts (LottieAnna)



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: 2016-2017 NHL Season, Alcohol, Bisexual Character, Coming Out, Cuddling & Snuggling, Eventual Smut, First Time, Fluff, M/M, Pining, Recreational Drug Use, Slow Burn, Texting, brief mention of a fear of flying, group chats, having gay feelings for your best friend, i even threw in some emojis, mentions of dogs in tuxedos, supportive yet nosy teammates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-30
Updated: 2017-04-30
Packaged: 2018-10-25 16:14:20
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 36,067
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10767840
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LottieAnna/pseuds/lotts
Summary: "Oh," said Mitch, breaking the silence between them, "if I come out to the team, please don’t let them do that thing where they take me to a gay bar."(Or: everyone's a little bit nosy, and everyone wants Mitch Marner to be happy. Auston especially.)





	i've got this friend

**Author's Note:**

> First and foremost: if you or someone you know is mentioned in the tags, please, click away! This is a work of fanfiction and in no way reflects the real actions of real people. 
> 
> This is like, the longest thing I have ever written? Oh my gosh I can't believe it's here. First off, thanks to ftc, tots, dexy, and aergs for reading this and giving their feedback, and special shoutout to ftc for all the edits! 
> 
> Title from "I've Got This Friend" by the Civil Wars, and name credit goes 100% to tots.
> 
> I wrote this because I wanted some good old-fashioned pining and fluff, and I hope I got there eventually! I loved writing an explicitly bi character, and having another character grapple with Not Straight feelings in a substantial way for the first time. A lot of the coming out scenes or talks about sexuality are based on real-life queer experiences (many of them mine, some of them my friends).
> 
> The schedules and games are all entirely made up, and this in no way fits into the actual schedule. They're roughly at the beginning of Mitch and Auston's rookie season at the start and it goes through, like, roughly February or March before we get to the epilogue (which takes place in the postseason, then skips ahead another year for the final chunk). I didn't realize that Auston lived with his dad until it was too late to add it into the story, so we're just gonna say he lives on his own.

_Mitch: dude_

_Mitch: frat parties suck?_

_Mitch: help it’s like, empty here, apparently it’s still early but holy shit dude this is so awkward_

_Mitch: i cant tell if i should chirp hymie for how he talks to people or not_

_Mitch: is it him or is it just that college kids are weird_

_Mitch: hyman knows so many people, how. he lives in a different country._

_Mitch: oh apparently this isn’t even a real frat?_

_Mitch: austoooonnnnnn help the only beer here tastes terrible how do americans do this_

_Auston: lol_

_Auston: dude i told you it would be lame idk why you expected any different_

_Mitch: i’m never watching a movie about college again, they all lie_

_Mitch: animal house can suck my fucking dick_

_Auston: it might get better as the night goes on_

_Auston: or, it might get lame in a different, more crowded, drunker way?_

_Mitch: fuck u_

_Mitch: lmao some1 challenged me n willy 2 beer pong???_

_Auston: i bet you suck at it_

_Mitch: i bet i dont fuck u_

_Mitch: better idea u come down here, be my pong partner_

_Auston: idek where you guys are? and also no_

_Mitch: wow didnt realize u were a FUCKIN NERD_

_Auston: lol_

Auston put down his phone when it became clear that Mitch wasn’t going to answer that, which, yeah, made sense; he was at a party, and his last text hardly warranted a response. He made it through half an episode of Law and Order before his phone started buzzing with more texts from Mitch, who, by the looks of it, was pretty drunk

_Mitch: this is prime rookie bonding shit dude ur soooo missing out_

_Mitch: tomorrow we’re gonna have a bunch of new jokes and you won’t even be there_

_Mitch: i told willy we’re gonna have a rookie frat_

_Mitch: we r brothers now_

_Mitch: i told them u were regretting nto coming with usssss if u get here ur not gonna miss outtttt and i’ll play beer pong with you i’m really good when i’m not playing w/ willy_

_Auston: hmmmmm_

_Mitch: do it do it do it do it_

_Auston: wow peer pressure_

_Mitch: pls grace us w/ ur presence, o gr8 4uston matts_

_Mitch: u saved the leafs w/ 4 goals in 1 nite u can save a lame party_

_Mitch: also man the party isn’t lame anymore n u should comeeee_

Auston looked down at his phone and furrowed his brow, because honestly, he was pretty bored. Earlier, a frat party had seemed like the single dumbest idea anyone had ever had– really, everyone he’d ever talked to who had gone to college said frat parties were not worth it– but Mitch was really persuasive, especially when he got tipsy and giggly and made it his personal goal for the night to get Auston to smile.

Auston usually cracked pretty quickly, but Mitch still acted like it was a huge accomplishment every time it happened.

Sighing, he texted Hyman for the address and prepared to call an Uber.

* * *

Auston stepped out of the cab, pulled his baseball cap lower down on his face, walked up the lawn, and was immediately faced with a dude who was clearly drunk out of his mind and looked ready to fight.

"Who do you know here?" he asked, and Auston was taken aback.

"I– uh– is Zach Hyman there?"

The dude blinked at him, and a wave of recognition crossed his face, followed by a slight look of guilt. "Oh shit, yeah man, no worries. Didn’t know he was bringing more people is all. Good to meet you." The guy held out his hand to Auston, who shook it in return. It felt sweaty, even though the dude was sitting outside in Michigan, and though it wasn’t quite winter yet, it felt solidly chilly.

"Uh, do you know where Hyman and his friends went?"

The dude nodded. "Back porch. They set up a second pong table back there."

Auston nodded, thanked him, and walked towards the back of the house. He felt painfully aware of his own sobriety, and even though he hadn’t planned on drinking that much, something about this house made him want to be absolutely wasted. Maybe it was that everyone else was, or maybe it was just how _crowded_ it was– a part of him thought it might be easier to navigate the sheer volume of people with alcohol in his system. Eventually, he made his way past a kitchen where a kid was clumsily filling red solo cups with water, which had a view of the room currently serving as the dance floor– a packed mess of bodies in dim, colored light, jumping and moving and smiling and kissing. It looked out of control and chaotic and maybe fun, but also a little scary.

And then he found the back door. Through the window in it, he saw Mitch setting up to throw a shot, his face flushed– either from the cold or the beer– and his focus narrowed on the cup opposite him. Willy was next to him, looking spaced out and smiling slightly. The second the ball left Mitch’s hand, Auston opened the door and saw the full scene, including the two girls on the opposite end of the table who were fishing Mitch’s successful shot out of the cup and placing it to the side.

Mitch turned and saw him first, and his face lit up in a way that made Auston want to run his fingers through his hair.

"Matts!" Mitch shouted, running up to him like he was going to jump into Auston’s arms. Instead, he grabbed Auston’s hand and pulled him in for a hug.

"Not a minute too late," chirped Nylander, "Mitchy kept whining for you."

Mitch stopped hugging Auston to turn around and glare at Willy. "Only ‘cause you suck at pong," he said, trying for angry but coming across as pouty. He turned back to Auston. "Dude, there’s a fucking _keg_. Do you want something to drink?"

Auston did, but he was loathe to go back inside, even though he’d just gotten there. Thankfully, one of the girls across the table said, "there’s also a case of the same beer right over there," pointing to a red-white-and-blue box.

Mitch seemed displeased with that, like he’d _really_ wanted to show Auston the keg. "I guess," he said. "A _keg_ , though."

Hyman snorted. "You just wanna do a kegstand," he said. "Also, hey man," he said, going in for a handshake.

"Thanks for the invite," said Auston, feeling weirdly formal about it; invitations were clearly not required for these kinds of parties. "I’m pretty sure the dude out front is a fan."

Hyman shrugged. "When I was here, former players would visit sometimes. It was usually pretty chill."

"Really," said Auston. It wasn’t like he thought they weren’t allowed to go out and drink but– but drinking with the team just seemed different from crashing a frat party, more professional, somehow. That thought was interrupted, though, when he caught a whiff from the other end of the porch and saw the two girls who’d lost to Mitch at beer pong, one holding a lighter while the other one took a puff. Willy, apparently, had also noticed, and was wandering towards them.

 _Well_ , thought Auston, _if it’s okay for Willy._

Which, okay, maybe wasn’t the truest comparison, but he didn’t think it would be a scandal for a rookie to be caught getting high at a party, all things considered.

Plus, Auston liked to smoke weed. He hadn’t had many chances during the season so far, still navigating the rules for rookies in the NHL, but he was feeling particularly impulsive tonight.

Willy turned back and looked over at Auston, giving him a nod; Auston walked over towards the other end of the porch. He felt Mitch walk up behind him, only to fall in step at his side and "You going to smoke?" he asked, hands in his pockets.

Auston shrugged. "Probably."

Mitch nodded, and the two of them continued on. Nylander was taking a hit and saying something to the girls, who were standing close to each other. One dipped her head on the other’s shoulder and laughed into it.

"Welcome to the circle, boys," said the other girl, putting her arm around her. "Did you wanna smoke? Because that joint is pretty small, but I was thinking of packing a bowl anyway." Auston, Mitch, and Willy all shrugged, with Willy throwing them a charming smile and telling them whatever they wanted was fine. The girl who seemed to be the supplier for the evening laughed, then shrugged her friend off her.

"It’s no problem. It’s an honor to smoke out Arizona’s hockey hero," she said, looking right at Auston. Willy gave him a smirk, and Mitch flat-out snorted.

Auston blushed. "You follow hockey?"

The girl smiled hugely. "Not me, but this one here is from Phoenix," she said, gesturing to the other girl. "Also, I’m Margaret, and this is Ali."

Ali held out her hand. "Sorry to not introduce myself. But my family has been following you since you left for Switzerland, so. Figured you could stand to go a night without being recognized."

Auston smiled at that. "Nah, it’s cool. Nice to meet you."

They exchanged pleasantries as Margaret began to pack a bowl. Then, Margaret held the glass up to her lips and began to take a hit. She passed it to Ali, who did the same, and it was still going by the time it reached Auston. As he inhaled, the smoke scratched his throat a bit, but he successfully avoided coughing, and passed the bowl to Mitch.

Mitch looked unsurely at the glassware in his hands. "Uh," he said, and Auston could tell that the red on his face wasn’t just from the alcohol– Mitch was embarrassed about something. "I’ve never actually, uh, smoked a bowl before."

Willy smiled enormously, and threw an arm over Mitch’s shoulder. "It’s okay, Mitchy, we’ll teach you!"

Mitch ducked his head. "Fuck off, man. I’ll sit out this round though." He placed the bowl in Willy’s hands, and the group continued to laugh and chat as the bowl went around, with Auston offering it to Mitch in case he wanted to try. After a few hits, Auston was starting to feel pretty high, and that was when Mitch decided it was time to learn.

"Alright, I’ll take a hit," he said.

"Wonderful!" said Willy, seemingly unchanged despite probably being fairly crossfaded, because he was Willy. "So first off, put your thumb here--" Willy began to explain the steps to Mitch, and Auston’s eyes fell to Mitch’s mouth, which was open, absently, as Mitch nodded along to the things Willy said.

"... and Auston–" Auston’s focus snapped up, as Willy examined his face and fell into giggles. "Okay, Auston’s pretty blitzed, but if he’s up to it, he can light the bowl for you. When the flame touches, start to inhale." Auston nodded, knowing how absent his expression must be. But he was high, and Mitch’s face was fucking _entrancing_.

Willy handed him the lighter, and Mitch’s hands cupped the bowl as Auston lit it for him, letting what semblance of focus he had fall onto finding the perfect spot to light, the camera from Willy’s phone too bright for him to properly process anything around him. He was strangely okay with the feeling.

Mitch inhaled for what seemed like hours, his brows furrowed and his cheeks stiffening as the smoke traveled up the shaft of the bowl and into his mouth. He released his thumb and took his hand off the carb before falling into coughs and Auston belatedly realized that Mitch was probably very uncomfortable.

"Yeah, that can happen the first time– here, I’ll get you water," Willy offered, and Auston understood that to mean he was gonna stay with Mitch, coaxing him through. He turned to find Margaret and Ali, to give Margaret her bowl back, and found them– oh, kissing. Not full-on making out, but a quick peck that was definitely more than friendly.  

"Uh," Auston said, and Margaret looked up. "Your– uh. Bowl." Words felt heavy in his mouth, and he awkwardly gestured towards the piece in his hand. As she stepped towards him, her face looked slightly embarrassed.

Auston handed over her bowl and lighter. "Thanks for– yeah,” he said. “Uh. I can sign something? I mean, for you or for Ali–"

Ali’s face lit up, and Margaret smiled a small smile and nodded. Auston kept one hand on Mitch’s back, rubbing small circles, as he took a ballpoint pen and signed a random business card, half torn apart, which came from the same makeup pouch as the bowl and weed had.

"Thanks," said Margaret, handing the card off to Ali, who shyly tucked it in the back of her phone case.

"You didn’t have to," said Ali.

Auston shrugged. "It’s not a big deal."

Margaret and Ali drifted off, and Auston focused back in on Mitch, who had stopped coughing a bit; thankfully, Willy came back with a cup of water and put it in front of Mitch.

"Feeling alright, man?" asked Willy, and Mitch nodded, took the cup from him, and gulped down its entire contents. Auston was impressed, and he couldn’t look away, not while Mitch’s throat was moving like that.

"Man, my throat fuckin’– fuckin’ hurts," said Mitch, and then he started laughing. "Wow, fuck, that shit works. I’m _hungry_ , man, let’s– is it too early to leave and get fries?"

Willy laughed too. "Probably a bit, Matts just got here. Plus, didn’t you want to play pong with him?"

Mitch’s face got serious and excited all at once. "Shit, yeah, we’ve gotta. Just because like, doesn’t it just seem like we’d be fuckin’ _great_ pong partners?"

Auston smiled. "Whatever you say, Mitchy." They made their way over to the pong table, where Hyman was now talking to Ali and Margaret, who, at some point, had drifted across the porch.

"Yo!" Mitch shouted. "Rematch?"

Margaret and Ali turned to each other, laughed, and nodded. "Game on," said Ali.

Auston and Mitch lost, but mostly because Margaret and Ali were really fucking good at beer pong. Part of Auston wondered if they were like, professional, but then he realized there was probably no actual professional beer pong league.

"How are you guys so fucking good at that?" asked Mitch.

Ali shrugged. "It’s– uh, kind of our thing? We met during orientation playing against each other, and it was a really fast match," she said. "You two are good, though! We’ve had much more practice."

Margaret laughed. "Really, this kid’s great when he has the right partner," she said, indicating towards Mitch. "I can believe that you’re professional athletes now, at least. No hand-eye coordination earlier."

"Hey, I’m good alright? I’d have been the fucking pong champion if I’d gone to college."

"Sure," said Margaret, clearly disbelieving. "Well, we’re going inside. Nice meeting you two!"

"Really, thank you so much," said Ali, who sounded a little starstruck. Auston wondered if she’d sounded that way the whole night.

Auston and Mitch said goodbye, then Mitch turned to him. "Were you– uh," said Mitch. "Y’know. Ali seemed down to– with you."

Auston blinked, not really understanding if Mitch was asking what Auston thought he was asking. "Are you– asking if I was going to hook up with her?"

Mitch blushed, and then shrugged. "I mean. I dunno."

Auston stared back disbelieving. "No? Weren’t they dating?"

Mitch looked thoroughly taken aback. "The fuck? Who?"

"Margaret and Ali?"

Mitch blinked. "Oh. That– that makes a lot of things make sense."

Auston fell into helpless giggles, and Mitch did too, because fuck, they were apparently both more fucked up than they’d realized.

"I want french fries," said Mitch.

"We can go back to my hotel and order room service?" suggested Auston. Mitch seemed enthusiastic about that idea, so Auston shot Connor a quick text, switched their room assignments up, and called an Uber.

* * *

"How did I not know they were dating?" Mitch said for the sixth time since they’d gotten back. It was immediately followed by, "fuck, I’m so fucking high," which he’d now said ten times, at least.

Auston shrugged. "No gaydar," he said.

Mitch shook his head. "No, that’s not it. I’m usually good at picking out that kind of shit with dudes. Maybe it’s like, chick-gaydar?"

"How do you know you’re good at it with dudes?"

Mitch shrugged. "I dunno, I can usually tell when people have crushes and shit. And like, I’ve seen dudes with other dudes, and it’s like, ‘oh, yeah, he’s wheeling him,’ and then they come out to me, so I know I’m right."

Auston laughed, because he was still pretty stoned. "Wait, that’s an amazing talent."

"Yeah, I have a gift," Mitch smiled and leaned back, his eyes droopy.

Auston was a bit worried that Mitch was going to fall asleep, but thankfully a knock on the door to announcing the arrival of their much-anticipated fries seemed to get him to perk up. Mitch thanked the bellhop, probably a little too profusely, and the look on his face as he began to dig into the fries was incredible. Auston wondered if he’d ever seen someone so happy.

"Dude. _Dude_ ," was all Mitch said, before he took the plate of fries off the table-desk, brought it to the bed, and dug into it.

"Excuse me," said Auston, because he didn’t know how they were going to share the fries if Mitch insisted on being on the bed.

Mitch made a whining noise in response. "Just-- go on the other side of the bed, sit next to me? I don’t wanna mooove," he said, dragging out the last word.

Auston sighed. "The things I do for you," he said, obediently climbing into the bed next to Mitch.

He was aware of just how closely their sides were pressed together, and he willed himself to stay calm, because Mitch loved pressing them close together. It was just that after the party, as stoned as he was, Auston couldn’t help but let himself enjoy being this close to Mitch. He didn’t have the presence of mind to stop himself from angling himself until Mitch’s head was pressed against his chest.

Or maybe he could have stopped himself, but he didn’t want to. Mitch felt good leaning against him.

Mitch felt like enough of an indulgence for the night, and truthfully, Auston didn’t find himself craving the fries the way Mitch seemed to be, so he let Mitch eat most of them.

"Yo," said Mitch, "we should watch something."

Auston nodded in agreement, and Mitch put the plate of fries on the nightstand as he went over to his suitcase and grabbed his laptop, peeling himself off of Auston in the process. Auston found himself missing the feeling of Mitch leaning against him. Mitch came back up with his laptop, and opened up Netflix.

They landed on an episode of It’s Always Sunny, and Mitch put the laptop on Auston’s lap, which he was about to protest, except Mitch leaned on Auston’s chest again, and Auston was just so high, and Mitch felt so good.

Auston couldn’t help it; he curled his arm around Mitch.

Mitch seemed pleased with this, and leaned more into Auston. The show played on, and they watched terrible people do terrible things and drink too much, and laughed, probably a little too much, because Auston had seen the episode before but Mitch hadn’t, and Auston loved watching Mitch react to things. Every time something terrible or terrifying happened, Mitch’s face would twist with a disgusted sort of glee, and he would turn his head to look up at Auston, who smiled down at him knowingly.

"What the fuck," he said, after a particularly gross bit with a ton of blood. "Man, this show is a fucking trip."

Auston laughed. "It’s not your first time watching, is it?"

"I mean, no, but like, this is like, so far."

"Fair," said Auston. "But it’s fucking funny."

"Yeah," said Mitch, and they continued watching. Except at that moment, Mitch’s hand found its way to Auston’s knee and Auston’s brain was about to short-circuit. _Mitch is a cuddler_ , he reminded himself, _this doesn’t mean anything besides that._

He couldn’t understand how an affectionate disposition could correlate with knee-touching, but he was too high to process the alternative.

Actually, Auston was pretty sure that if he told Mitch to back off, he would, and there would be no residual awkwardness or anything. But Auston wanted– well, the opposite of that. He was comfortable, and wanted to be touching Mitch everywhere, which was probably a thought he should have been avoiding– but Mitch was _right there_ and getting closer.

And Mitch’s hand moved up Auston’s thigh. It was slow, but his pinky moved up at first, then the rest of his fingers moved to join. It couldn’t have been more than a centimeter, but Auston was completely overwhelmed.

He was undeniably turned on by it. He hoped Mitch didn’t notice, or if he did, he hoped it wouldn’t make things weird. But Auston could feel himself getting hard at the suggestion that Mitch _might_ touch him, which was, seriously, just _ridiculous_ . He knew it was partially just that there were hands, like, right near his dick, but he also couldn’t deny that there was something about those hands belonging to _Mitch_ that really fucked with his head. Mitch, who sent him 80 texts a day and had a chronic inability to play it cool, who had the softest hands Auston had ever seen and not a single mean bone in his body. Who apparently had some freaky level of acceptance for gay teammates which, yeah, Auston was still processing _that_ bit of information, and who would wake up tomorrow with a hangover and _still_ regret not doing a kegstand.

Mitch was ridiculous in every possible way, and he was so close to Auston. He could feel himself being ripped apart by just how fond he found himself feeling every single time he got a new text or looked at his beautiful smile.

Auston ran a finger through Mitch’s hair, and Mitch hummed, smiling, the noise vibrating through Auston’s chest. Mitch’s hand slipped up another centimeter, and then Auston realized Mitch was fading.

"Mitchy," he said. "You asleep?"

Mitch’s eyes were closed as he shrugged. "Whatever. ‘m comfy. Don’t make me move."

Auston sighed, because bedtime meant getting up and switching beds. However, as he paused the show and shut the lid of Mitch’s computer, Mitch made a displeased noise. "Come back," he said. "I wanna sleep."

"You can sleep without me," said Auston, butterflies in his stomach fluttering.

Mitch grunted at that. "Difficult," he muttered, though judging by how he sounded, it wouldn’t be difficult at all for him to nod off. Auston didn’t want to challenge him, though, so he instead said, "I’ll be back in a minute," and went into the bathroom to get ready for bed.

As he brushed his teeth, Auston tried and failed to not think about Mitch curled up in those bedsheets, the way he’d been curled up on Auston only minutes ago.

When he emerged after a few minutes, he noticed Mitch’s shirt was off, and gulped. Figuring Mitch was already fast asleep, Auston removed his shirt and went to his own bed.

"No, man," said Mitch, his eyes still closed. "I just... just cuddle me. Bro."

Auston might have believed Mitch was sleep-talking, but Mitch wasn’t a sleep-talker. And he was a fan of cuddling.

"So pushy," said Auston, climbing into Mitch’s bed. Mitch rolled over and rested his head on Auston’s chest, and the whole thing felt so nice that Auston couldn’t even be stressed about how much he enjoyed this. Mitch’s weight was calming and gentle, and as Auston drifted off, he couldn’t tell if the kiss pressed to his chest was real or imaginary; either way, he squeezed Mitch a little tighter in return, relaxed and comfortable.

* * *

Auston woke up the next morning feeling supremely well rested, before detecting a warm body on his, and sure enough, there was Mitch, mouth open and drooling slightly, hands clinging to Auston.

Auston almost freaked out, but– yeah, he was still a little high from the night before, and figured he could stand to close his eyes for a few more minutes and relish the feeling of Mitch against him.

He felt Mitch move in his arms, and then he was treated to the sight of Mitch blinking up at him, his eyes adjusting to the light and processing the image of Auston in front of him. In lieu of saying anything, Mitch just threw Auston a nod, got up, and stumbled towards the bathroom.

 _Welp_ , thought Auston, _that was something._

It wasn’t that Auston hadn’t been aware of just how much he’d liked Mitch– it was just that he had a talent for compartmentalization that came with being a hockey player. And Auston wasn’t gay. Not that he wasn’t having some pretty gay thoughts about Mitch, but– he almost never fell for dudes, so he chose to ignore them when they came along. It had worked out so far.

But he wasn’t dumb, and he wasn’t so severely repressed that he couldn’t recognize this for what it was– he was, like, definitely, 100%, hardcore crushing on Mitch.

And that presented an issue, because he was pretty fucking turned on the morning after spending the night with Mitch pressed up against him.

 _Mitch is a cute dude,_ thought Auston. _Mitch is a dude I have a thing for._ He tried the thoughts in his head the way he had out loud right after the draft, standing in front of a mirror repeating "I went first overall in the draft" and "I am going to play for the Toronto Maple Leafs" just to process the truth of those statements.

Blessedly, Mitch came back from the bathroom looking definitively not cute, because while Auston had gone to bed stoned off his mind, Mitch had been drunk more than anything, and from the looks of it his hangover was working its way through his body. "Dude, I feel like garbage," he said, his hair messed up and his face lacking color. "What the fuck."

Auston shrugged. "Shitty beer?" he suggested. "You played a lot of beer pong."

"Fuck, man, I am so glad I didn’t go to college." Mitch rested his hand on his forehead and grabbed the glass from the nightstand.

Auston couldn’t help but smirk at that. "Not everyone plays that much beer pong every night, I’m pretty sure. And not everyone loses as badly as we did."

"Oh shit, yeah, those chicks," Mitch shouted from the bathroom as he filled up the glass.

"Yeah, drunk Mitchy spent the night trying to impress the lesbian beer pong power couple with his nonexistent skills," Auston called back.

Mitch emerged from the bathroom, groaned, and then took a long drink of water, and Auston found himself rescinding the three minutes he hadn’t found Mitch cute, because apparently he had a _thing_ for Mitch’s Adam’s Apple bobbing as he took large gulps.

Auston didn’t know how one night had taken him from deep-in-denial to head-over-heels, but he figured this was just where he lived now, and it didn’t feel that different from before; relishing every bit of affection Mitch gave him, getting excited every time they touched, and being overwhelmed with fondness every time he did or said anything particularly Mitch-esque. Same as it had always been.

"Hey, man, can I ask you a question? And like, I’m hungover as fuck, so like, don’t take it too seriously or whatever," said Mitch, looking a bit nervous.

Auston felt confused, but nodded anyway. "Shoot."

"Did I, uh, do or say anything like, weird last night? Or like. I dunno. Anything big, I guess?"

He felt his brow furrow, but shook his head. "Whaddya mean by big?"

Mitch looked down and turned red. "I dunno. It was a dumb question anyway."

"Okay, dude." Mitch still looked uncomfortable, so Auston said, "I mean, you just kinda sucked at beer pong. And smoking a bowl," said Auston. "Usual fineable offenses." Auston also thought back to Mitch’s hand on his thigh, and pointedly decided not to mention it.

"Alright," Mitch said, and looked like he had more to say, but didn’t. Auston didn’t push it.

After a few minutes of awkward silence, Mitch asked, "What fuckin’ time is it, anyway?" Auston shrugged, then reached over to grab his phone. Their alarms were going off in a few minutes. "Woke up just in time," said Auston, who then nodded in the direction of the bathroom. "You can shower first."

As Auston heard the water of Mitch’s shower beginning to run, he tried to not think about the warm water running over his naked body, and pointedly avoided touching himself, even though he felt himself growing a little hard at the thought. He wondered if Mitch was jerking off, briefly, before pushing that thought out of his head entirely and trying to think about, like, literally anything else.

Mitch was finished in the shower fairly quickly, and Auston rushed in the second he was done. The bathroom was still steamy from Mitch’s shower, and the image of Mitch lathering up flashed into Auston’s head. It was a bit silly, because they were teammates, and had showered together plenty of times, and the image he had of Mitch carefully lathering soap up and down his thin but muscular legs bore little to no resemblance to the real Mitch in the shower. Real Mitch in the shower zoned out washing his armpits, absently following the rhythm of whatever song was playing in the shower, and– and that was also an image too adorable for Auston to handle. With resignation, Auston put his hand around his dick and began to jerk off quickly, willing himself not to think about Mitch in the team shower, because that just felt wrong. He tried to focus on the sensation of his hand on his dick, the feeling of the water and the soap, but his mind kept jumping around through all the memories of Mitch, naked, sweaty, scoring goals, holding him close during cellys, smacking his ass in the locker room.  

As he came, his mind settled on one thought: Mitch’s hand, on his thigh, warm, pressing yet not pressuring, inching up curiously.

 _Fuck_ , he thought, and he bit his lip to avoid letting a moan escape his lips.

He finished off the rest of his shower quickly, mildly annoyed that Mitch had used almost all of the tiny hotel shampoo. That got him thinking about Mitch showering _again_ , because he apparently had a problem, but thankfully, it was much easier to shut down those thoughts post-orgasm.

A part of him hoped that jerking off in the shower would be enough, and that this thing for Mitch was something he needed to get out of his system. But when he emerged he saw Mitch, fully dressed besides being barefoot, hunched over his phone, and fuck. Mitch looked so fucking good, and Auston couldn’t believe he hadn’t seen it before. Mitch was incredible, and Auston was so, so fucked.

Instead of doing what he wanted to do, which probably would have involved climbing into Mitch’s lap and kissing him breathless, he gulped, turned around, and used the towel around his hips to dry off his hair, suddenly self conscious. He didn’t know if Mitch was looking, and he honestly didn’t know if he wanted him to be; instead of lingering on any thoughts involving Mitch and nakedness, he quickly got dressed and promised himself he’d actually work through whatever these feelings were later, when he was away from Mitch.

* * *

_Mitch: hey bro can i come over later_

_Auston: yah sure_

In all honesty, Auston didn’t want Mitch to come over. Or rather, he did, but he felt weak saying yes anyway. But he didn’t need a journey of self-discovery to realize that a big part of this... whatever, the thing he was having for Mitch, was want. Auston wanted Mitch, and wanted him badly. And part of wanting was wanting to spend time together, and closer, and Auston just was feeling everything so strongly that he just couldn’t say no.

It was a little strange for Mitch to want to hang out after they’d just come back from a roadie, though, so Auston sent a follow-up text.

Auston: everything alright?

The grey bubbles of Mitch’s response floated on the screen for a long time before popping down, then popping back up again. Auston put down his phone because he wasn’t prepared to deal with that right this second, and didn’t pick it back up again until he heard it buzz.

Mitch: yeah, it’s fine, there’s just a thing

It read like Mitch had sent it early, and Auston tried not to let that weigh on him.

For the time being, Auston busied himself with other things, determined to not think about Mitch for at least ten minutes. His workout schedule demanded an off-day right now, even though it was one of the rare times he found himself wanting to go for a run, but he still had stretching to do. But stretching made him think of Mitch stretching, which made his mind picture all the different ways Mitch’s body could–  

Auston accepted that he wasn’t getting his mind off Mitch for the foreseeable future.

Still, stretching did help him feel more grounded, and the more he thought about it, the more manageable the whole crush situation seemed. Mitch was his teammate, and it was fun to fantasize, but he was probably not going to return Auston’s feelings any time soon, and that made all the “what ifs” in Auston’s brain settle down.

Then Auston heard a knock on his door, and went to let Mitch in.

Mitch’s arrival brought a wave of relief over Auston, even though he seemed jumpier than normal. The ground felt firmer under Auston’s feet when Mitch was there.

"Hey," said Auston, suddenly worried that every syllable he spoke would give him away. Which was dumb.

Mitch nodded at him and say "hey" back, not quite meeting Auston’s eyes, and walked into the room. "Sorry I was so fucking, like, cryptic."

Auston shrugged, because he didn’t know what else to do. "It’s fine, man," he said, even though it wasn’t true.

"So I was– uh, I was gonna come over here and like, kick your ass in Mario Kart or whatever and then just be like, super chill about this, but I’m kinda freaking out, but like, it’s not a big deal so please don’t make this one, okay? Like, if you hate this, just pretend I never said anything, okay?"

Auston felt his brain go dizzy, and he felt almost nauseous, but still, he nodded and said, "Okay."

Mitch took a deep breath. "So you know how like– like I’ve dated girls in the past, yeah? And I’ve liked dating those girls, but also, there’s– I’ve also dated... dudes. Like, in a gay way. In the past."

The actual words made Auston short-circuit a bit, and it took him a minute to process the news. Mitch looked downright terrified, and Auston noticed that his fingers were moving in the pockets of his jacket. Auston didn’t really know what to say, and quickly searched his brain for an appropriate response, only to come up with "Okay. Uh, congrats?"

Mitch’s face didn’t relax any more, so Auston kept going. "Like, that’s obviously an okay thing. Seriously." Then, Auston had the good sense to smile, which seemed to ease some of the tension in Mitch’s face. "It’s cool that you told me, man. Thanks for the trust." Apparently that was the right thing to say, because Mitch’s face burst out into the most relieved grin Auston had ever seen.

"Thanks, man."

"Yeah," was all Auston said, running on some weird autopilot friend mode he didn’t know he had. "Don’t sweat it. So you’re like, bi?"

Mitch shrugged, and scrunched his nose in a way that Auston refused to find adorable. "I dunno. I’ve never really tried to find a word for it? But like, that one works well. Bi. Bi, bi bi. Bi bi bi. Yeah. I guess."

Auston nodded, and then blurted out, "so are you dating anyone right now?" and mentally kicked himself.

Mitch shook his head. "No, that’s not– I thought I like, told you last night, is why I’m telling you now, yeah? And then I was being weird this morning and– yeah."

"Alright," he said, because that made sense. "Uh, does anyone else on the team know?"

"Nah. I. Uh, I told my mom but I was like, 12? So I don’t know if she even remembers. And. Uh, Stromer knows."

It took Auston a minute to figure out why Mitch blushed when he mentioned Strome.

"Oh," Auston said.

Mitch swallowed. "Uh, we– when we were younger, I mean, nothing like, recent."

Auston had about a million questions in response to that, but he figured right now wasn’t the best time to ask them. He didn’t even know if he wanted to know the answers to them, anyway.

"So, is he–" Auston began, before Mitch cut him off.

"I shouldn’t– like, I told him I was gonna tell you about me, and him by proximity, and he gave me the go-ahead on that, but the other stuff, that’s his shit, you know? Like, if he’s. Uh. Still doing that kind of stuff.”

Auston felt his face flush. Right.

"Uh," Mitch continued, "don’t– don’t spread this stuff, alright?"

"Of course not," he said. "Dude, don’t worry." Then, because Auston apparently couldn’t stop saying dumb things, he said, "I’ve known gay people before."

Mitch looked at Auston for a second with a face he couldn’t decipher "Are... you’re being weird about this."

"No! No, I, uh. I’m sorry if I’m like, making you feel weird. I’m just trying to say that I get the basics and stuff."

Mitch furrowed his brow. "I don’t even know if I get the basics? It just like. Is a thing."

He nodded, and willed his mouth to stay shut so he wouldn’t say even more dumb stuff. They sat, stewing in silence, for a few moments. Auston was still reeling from the revelation. Because Mitch liked guys, which meant he might like kissing guys. Mitch liking guys didn’t mean he liked Auston, but still– it just made it so much easier to picture everything. It wasn’t even the kissing, or the sex. It was the idea that if he asked Mitch out on a date, Mitch _could_ say yes. Hypothetically.

It all felt very real, and very sudden.

"Oh," said Mitch, breaking the silence between them, "if I come out to the team, please don’t let them do that thing where they take me to a gay bar."

Auston sputtered at that, before he burst out laughing. "Dude," he said, wiping tears from his eyes, "oh my god."

"Listen, man, I’m fucking serious. That shit always happens when a dude comes out to a bunch of straight dudes."

"What, in like, movies?"

"No, dude, I’ve heard it like, always happens."

"Is that like, the tradition?" Auston didn’t know that there had been enough out players in the NHL for there to be a precedent for it.

Mitch shrugged. "I don’t think there is one, formally, but it’s sort of the obvious thing, right? But apparently it always just sucks. Dudes have no idea how to mack on dudes, and then you can’t go back to that club because you’re the asshole who brought twenty straight dudes in. No gay bars."

"No gay bars, noted," said Auston. Things were feeling a bit more normal now, centered, light. "Wanna play COD?" he asked.

"Bro," said Mitch. "Always. It’s an off day."

Mitch ended up staying for a dinner of reheated pizza, then hanging around until 10, at which point he yawned obnoxiously, stood up, ruffled Auston’s hair just to be an asshole, and left, confirming that he’d pick up Auston for practice tomorrow.

And finally, Auston had alone time to figure out what the fuck was happening in his head. As he got ready for bed, he tried to piece everything together.

He started with that morning, with his semi-stoned realization that he like, actually really really liked Mitch. But that wasn’t quite the start of it, he admitted to himself, because the night before, Mitch had put his hand on Auston’s thigh and Auston had felt so excited and warm and dumb for how excited such a simple gesture made him. But the only reason he and Mitch were in that position in the first place was because they’d gone to that party, and the only reason Auston had shown up was because...

Because Mitch had asked him to, and because the thought of Mitch’s cheeks flushed from alcohol, getting too intense about beer pong and loving every second of it, had been just… irresistible to him. He thought back to all the times he’d pictured Mitch’s delighted smile before agreeing to something, or made a joke just because he wanted to see Mitch laugh. He thought he’d just reveled in Mitch’s attention, that he was grateful to have a friend on the team, but the truth was that Auston had friends all across the league, and a ton of friends on the team, but there was only one Mitch, and really, that wasn’t anything new at all.

* * *

The next day, Mitch honked outside his apartment, and Auston, as usual, climbed in, and they made their way to the rink. It didn’t feel any different to Auston. Because it wasn’t, because Auston had apparently _always_ had it bad for Mitch, and just hadn’t fucking realized it.

It was a normal day in Toronto: the roads were icy, the drivers were terrible, and Mitch insisted on flipping between radio stations every five seconds, because he didn’t have the patience for commercials. Auston whined at him before he settled on some generic top 40 station, and chirped Mitch for knowing all the lyrics to a Taylor Swift song, because it was simultaneously hilarious and not surprising at all.

Then, when they were stuck in traffic and Mitch was yelling loudly at all the surrounding cars, the radio decided to make things weird. When they heard the recognizable soft piano notes over the radio, they both went silent.

Auston had remembered hearing that "Same Love" had apparently been like, influential, and he was living in the states when gay marriage was legalized and all that. But it was really just– such a dumb song. He really, really hated it, and he really wanted to change the station.  

But Mitch had come out to him less than a day ago, and it seemed like it would be in bad taste to immediately change the station. So Auston hesitated a bit before asking, "uh, do you like, really like this song, or can I change the station?"

Mitch gave him a look before he put on a faux-serious face. "How dare you ask to turn off Macklemore’s gay rights anthem." A smile twitched at the corners of his mouth.

"Okay, but can I change it?" asked Auston, smiling a little bit back.

"No. You can’t turn off this song, it’s like, super important for gay rights or something, okay? That’s homophobic. Biphobic. Whatever. This is a Macklemore-only car," Mitch proclaimed.

Auston rolled his eyes. "Okay, but like, this isn’t a good song."

Mitch finally broke, and smiled wide. "Okay, just because we’re on our way to practice you can change it, but I do like that song. For real. Not because I’m bi, though."

"So it’s just your shit taste in music?"

"Fuck off," said Mitch, pushing his shoulder, and Auston chirped him for his awful music taste the rest of the way to the rink.

Mitch pulled into the lot, then parked the car and turned to Auston. "So, uh, I think I’m gonna tell Marty."

"You mean like, come out to him?"

Mitch nodded. "Yeah. Uh, there are a couple of dudes I want to be like, one-on-one with, ya know?"

Auston nodded, wondering how long Mitch had been thinking about this.

* * *

After practice, Auston drove home on his own, knowing Mitch was going to talk to Matt about it. He didn’t want to assume that Mitch was going to text him, but he wouldn’t be surprised if he did. Tired from the stretch of games and practice that morning, Auston fell asleep on his couch as soon as he got home, and woke up to a text from his mom and eight consecutive texts from Mitch. He looked at the ones from Mitch first.

 _Mitch: dude marty’s chill w/ bi stuff_  

_Mitch: you know how sometimes he’s like a chill league vet_

_Mitch: and then sometimes he’s like I AM YOUR FATHER_

_Mitch: he got like so dad about it_

_Mitch: help marty thinks i have a boyfriend oh noooooo_

_Mitch: ik its hard to believe that this handsome face is still single_

_Mitch: lol_

_Mitch: matts?_

_Auston: sry just woke up_

_Mitch: marty said he won’t let the team take me to a gay bar_

_Auston: thought that was my job_

_Mitch: good 2 have reinforcements from the d line_

_Mitch: lol the d_

_Auston: wow_

_Mitch: if u don’t find that funny ur biphobic_

_Auston: is that a joke you’re gonna make a lot now_

_Mitch: of course_

_Mitch: im bored u shud play cod w/ me_

_Auston: come over?_

_Mitch:_

Fifteen minutes later, Mitch was knocking on the door of Auston’s apartment, and Auston let him in.

"Dude, I’m starving. Can we like, have dinner?"

Auston was about to say yes, before realizing that he had no food in his apartment whatsoever. "We’d have to go out, or I could order in."

"Or," said Mitch, "we could cook?"

Mitch and Auston had cooked together before. The first time, it had been to prove to themselves that they could. The second time, it had been to prove to Mo and Gards that they could. Auston cooked simple foods for himself, and the nutritionist had a list of recipes that Auston prepared in bulk every few weeks, sometimes. Mitch was a surprisingly decent chef, despite not actually needing to cook and giving off a vibe that said "I would probably live on Arizona iced tea and Sour Patch Kids if no one stopped me."

"I don’t have any ingredients," replied Auston.

Mitch rolled his eyes. "I think we can afford groceries."

And so Auston found himself in the passenger’s seat as Mitch pulled into the Whole Foods parking lot, blasting Selena Gomez louder than was ever necessary, and screaming along.

"Dude," said Auston. "You’re the fucking worst."

"Nah, I’m great," said Mitch, shooting Auston the dorkiest grin he’d ever seen. Auston rolled his eyes to cover up the overwhelming affection he felt.

As they made their way out of the car and into the store, Auston realized that they had no fucking clue what they were going to make.

"Yo, what are we buying?” asked Auston.

Much to Auston’s frustration, Mitch shrugged. "I dunno. Meat? Vegetables?"

"Helpful," he said, shoving Mitch a bit, who shoved him right back.

They ended up getting steak, and after purchasing the ridiculously expensive meat, they wandered through the aisles aimlessly, grabbing whatever caught their eyes.

"Dude, there are so many types of nut butter," said Mitch. "Why do they all have like, oil at the top?"

"They grind the nuts to make it?" suggested Auston.

Mitch crinkled his nose at that. "But then it just tastes like... ground peanuts."

"That’s what peanut butter is supposed to taste like, Mitchy," Auston chirped wryly.  

"No? It’s supposed to taste like, salty and creamy. Why does anyone buy any nut butter that’s not like, in a Reese’s cup?" Mitch said.

"Talk to the nutritionist about that one," replied Auston.

Mitch stuck his tongue out at Auston, and Auston aggressively tried to not think about how cute he found it.

Mitch picked up some chocolate-flavored almond butter and wordlessly threw it in the cart. Auston raised his eyebrows, and Mitch shrugged and said "it’s healthier than Nutella" in response.

"You just wanted to buy nut butter," said Auston.

Mitch was indignant at that, and Auston smirked.

"You can’t make gay jokes before I have a chance to," said Mitch.

"Actually, I can," said Auston. “It’s always open season on nut butter jokes.”  

When they made their way over to produce, Mitch held up an eggplant, and Auston walked away wordlessly. He figured if Mitch actually wanted the eggplant he could put it in the grocery cart himself, and sure enough, Mitch returned the vegetable to the pile.

"You’re no fun," huffed Mitch.

"I don’t like eggplant," replied Auston drily.

At last, after gathering up some kale and carrots for a salad, the two of them made their way over to the cashier.

Mitch insisted on paying, which struck Auston as odd, but he indulged Mitch pushing ahead to the front end of the cart as he unloaded the groceries onto the belt. Mitch, instead of helping him, was deep in conversation with the cashier, who had said something apparently hilarious, because Mitch was laughing, his face flushed and his smile wide.

The cashier was– he was young, Auston was noticing, probably a college student, and had a bit of scruff that made his jawline stand out. He was shorter than Mitch but definitely fit, if his forearms were any indication, and his hair was sandy-colored and messy. He was... handsome, Auston realized. He was handsome, and he was making Mitch laugh, while Auston was stuck unloading groceries.

He knew it was ridiculous to be annoyed at Mitch for talking to the cashier, but that didn’t stop him from saying "Mitchy, lend a hand?" which caused both Mitch and the cashier to flush a little.

Mitch finished paying and the man bagged their groceries and told them to have a nice day, and Mitch and Auston walked out of the store.

"Was he a fan?" Auston asked, as they made their way across the parking lot.

"Hm? Oh, no. Just. Uh, you know, a chill dude."

Auston raised his eyebrows.

"I wasn’t trying to pick up a dude at Whole Foods, Matts," blurted out Mitch, sounding very defensive in the face of Auston’s wordless accusations.

"You were flirting with him, though."

Mitch shrugged. "I got game, man."

"So is that your type?"

Mitch looked pointedly down at the ground when he said, "fuck off, man."

The response made Auston nervous, so he said "No, I’m just like, asking for future reference." Because Mitch was welcome to flirt with the cashier at Whole Foods. The _cute_ cashier at Whole Foods.

Mitch pursed his lips. "I don’t fucking know, man. I don’t have a type, I guess?"

"Everyone has a type," replied Auston.

"I don’t think that’s true, man. I can’t even choose a gender. I just– I like who I like, you know? People– they’re, like, cute, or whatever."

"Okay, dude, sorry. Just don’t think I’ve ever seen someone flirt back with you before," said Auston. It was a lame chirp, but it got the job done, because Mitch ducked his head to hide his embarrassed smile.

The ride home was normal, filled with chatter about Toronto, hockey, and the team. When they got back to Auston’s, they determined that Auston should be in charge of cooking the steak, while Mitch could take over the salad duties.

Auston was standing over the island in his kitchen while Mitch’s back was to him, working at the counter, when he said, "I’m just gonna do it tomorrow."

"Do what?" said Auston.

"Um. Come out, you know, to the team and shit."

"Oh. That’s, uh, fast. Um, yeah, good luck, man." He didn’t know what else to say.

"Marty said– he said it would be a good idea," said Mitch.

"Why’d he say that?" asked Auston.

"He told me the guys would be chill about it, right? And that if they weren’t, he’d– you know."

"Punch their lights out?" said Auston, not lifting his eyes off the steak, even though he could hear that Mitch had turned around.

Mitch barked out a laugh at that. "No, he said he’d talk to them. But whatever you want to believe, dude."

"Nah, dude, Marty’d punch them," said Auston, because he couldn’t picture anyone _not_ punching someone for being a jackass to Mitch.

"Well, he said he didn’t think it’d be a problem, so I’m just gonna do it." said Mitch, abandoning the salad completely as he approached the stovetop. “I– I dunno, I’m kind of psyched, you know?”

“What about?” asked Auston.

“I dunno, just, it’s easier when people know, you know? It’s hard to explain.”

“No, I believe you, man. It’s probably the right call.”

“Management knows,” said Mitch.

“Seriously?” said Auston, surprised. “How long have you been, uh–”

“I mean, I don’t know, I just wanted to let them know, so I could, like, eventually come out for real.”

“That’s– yeah, that’s fair,” said Auston.

“I wonder who’s gonna be the first to try and drag us all to a gay bar,” Mitch mused. “Naz, do you think?”

“Why are you so convinced this will happen?” asked Auston.

“It will, I swear,” said Mitch. “I bet you five bucks.”

“Yeah, fair deal, I’ll take it,” said Auston.

Soon enough, dinner was ready, and they ate on the couch, watching _Friends_ and laughing until Auston fell asleep on the couch, full and content and listening to the sound of Mitch’s breathing.

When Auston’s eyes opened next, it was because Mitch was moving. "Oh, sorry," said Auston.

Instead of responding to Auston’s comment, Mitch said "You talk about hockey in your sleep.”

"Oh. I didn’t know that," he said. He tried to remember if he’d been dreaming about hockey.

Mitch shrugged. "Well, you do. Um. I should head out, though. Thanks for dinner and shit. I washed the dishes."

"I’ll Venmo you for the groceries?" said Auston.

"Don’t sweat it. I’ll see you tomorrow, yeah? For– you know, everything.”

“Yeah, of course,” said Auston. “You’re picking me up, yeah?”

“Of course. Later, man,” said Mitch, and Auston watched him walk out the door, not bothering to stop the fond smile on his face.

* * *

The next day, Mitch picked him up, as usual, and played shitty music in his car, as usual, and Auston chirped him for it, as usual.

After practice, once the press had cleared out of the locker room, Marty and Mitch got everyone’s attention.

Mitch stood up at the front of the locker room. “Hey, uh, guys. So like, there’s just a thing that’s– it’s just a thing about me that I wanted to tell everyone at once. So, like, I told a couple of guys about this already, and it’s all cool so far. Just, don’t tell anyone– like, seriously, don’t spread this shit around, it’s a really unchill move. But, I’m into dudes sometimes– like, I’m bisexual,” he said, finally.

The locker room was silent for a minute, before everyone started applauding, Auston included. Mitch was looking down and smiling as Mo got up and stood beside him.

"I’m happy for you, man," Mo said, pulling Mitch into a congratulatory hug.

"Same here," shouted Gards from across the room, and everyone else voiced their agreement. Auston shot Mitch a smile, because this whole thing was going really, really well, and Mitch– Mitch was practically beaming with excitement and relief, and his cheeks were flushed, and Auston was so happy that this was going the way Mitch wanted it to.

"Cool. Uh, well, thanks. Now shower up, we all smell like ass," said Mitch, and people began to disband, clapping Mitch’s shoulder as they walked by. Bozie, Mo, Marty, Willy, and Auston all hung back around Mitch.

"So," said Bozie, "this calls for a celebration."

Mitch shrugged. "We could," he said, seeming hesitant.

"I heard that down in Dallas, the entire team went to a gay club together," Bozie said, waggling his eyebrows.

Mitch groaned. "Jesus christ, no, please."

"I dunno," said Mo, "it could be fun."

"Guys, he said no," said Marty. Auston nodded in agreement.

"I mean, what’s the harm? I don’t– like, it’s really not likely that someone would recognize us there and, you know, suspect it or whatever."

"No, it’s not that it’s like– I’m not worried about getting in trouble or whatever, dude. I just don’t wanna bring a hockey team to a gay club."

"What’s wrong with that?" asked Bozie. "We can be fun."

Willy snorted at that.

"Okay, well– I don’t wanna bring a group of straight people to a gay club," said Mitch, crossing his arms.

"Straight people can like gay clubs!" protested Bozie.

"I don’t think it’s about the straight people, when you’re at a gay club," Auston chimed in wryly.

Bozie turned to stare at him. "What does that even mean?"

Auston shrugged, and Mitch responded. "Dude, it’s like, imagine if you went to a hockey game, right? But you were right next to a group of baseball fans who like, didn’t want to watch hockey, and wearing Jays gear, and wouldn’t stop talking about baseball and acting like they were at a baseball game. Alright? That’s what straight people are like at gay bars."

Willy, Mo, and Bozie all considered that for a second, and then Bozie nodded.

"Okay, I see what you’re saying. Discussion tabled, for now."

"Tabled forever, dude, no gay bars."

"We’ll see," said Bozie, who turned and gave Mo a conspiratorial look.

Later, Auston and Mitch climbed into Mitch’s car, and Mitch looked supremely contented.

“You owe me five bucks,” said Mitch, and Auston sighed and dug his wallet out of his pocket.  

"Seriously, man,” Auston said as he handed over the cash. "Congrats, yeah?"

Mitch smiled, and his cheeks turned just the slightest bit pink. "Yeah," he said. "It’s fun, I guess. Hey–" he said, and dug through his pocket to find his phone, which he promptly handed over to Auston. "I made a playlist for us. So we don’t have to deal with the radio." Mitch opened his phone then handed it to Auston.

Auston didn’t really know what to expect, but he wasn’t surprised when he looked down and saw a playlist entitled "matts loves all these songs" followed by a list of songs which Auston had teased Mitch for liking at some point. Still, that didn’t stop the grin from splitting over his face.

"Fuck you, Mitchy," he said.

"You know I’m going to make you play it."

Auston sighed dramatically as he plugged in Mitch’s phone and hit shuffle. As Mitch started the car and began to drive, Britney Spears began to play through the speakers, and Auston couldn’t help but smile at how excited Mitch got.

Neither of them stopped smiling the entire ride home.

* * *

Bozie did not drop the gay bar issue.

Officially, Mitch’s foot was down, but Auston sensed that his resolve was starting to weaken. Apparently they were currently in "negotiations," which meant that every so often Bozie would pester Marty or Auston about it. It had been going on for weeks.

"But I’ve heard it’s just really good for team bonding and shit, you know?" said Bozie.

"Mitchy said no," replied Marty, for the eighth time. "I don’t think anything else really matters."

"Seriously, man, drop it," said Auston.

Bozie rolled his eyes. "Listen. We won’t be annoying about it, alright? And like, I dunno, I don’t– I don’t know if I buy his reasoning."

At that moment, Mo walked up, and Auston was about to try and change the conversation when Bozie said, "okay, yeah, Mo and I were talking about this. The whole gay bar thing."

"Oh, yeah," said Mo. "We were saying– I mean, like, that stuff about not wanting to bring straight people to a gay bar could be true, but he also could just. Still be worried, you know?"

"Worried?" asked Marty.

"Like, he might not want the guys to see him wheeling other dudes. You know?"

"But he already came out to us," said Marty, looking confused.

"I mean. It’s one thing to like, know consciously, but it’s another thing to like, _know_ know. I dunno."

"Okay, even with that," said Auston, "he could still just not want to go to a gay bar."

Bozie shrugged. "Okay, but I still think it could actually be nice."

Auston rolled his eyes, but later, when he was playing COD with Mitch, he brought it up.

"So Bozie hasn’t let the gay bar thing go," said Auston.

"Bozie’s a shithead," said Mitch, not taking his eyes off the game.

"I mean–" Auston said, pausing the game. Mitch signed and turned toward him.

"Is Bozie like, making you talk to me about this?" asked Mitch.

"No? He just– I think he’s worried?"

"What’s he worried about?" asked Mitch.

"Like– I think he thinks that– that you don’t want us to see you wheeling other dudes," Auston said.

Mitch was quiet for a second, before he said, "Well, I mean– do you guys want to see me wheeling other dudes?"

Auston blinked at that. Of course _he_ didn’t want to see Mitch wheeling other dudes, but that wasn’t the question Mitch was asking. "I mean– dude, we want you to like, be yourself with us, you know?" said Auston awkwardly.

Mitch sighed. "I guess. I– I dunno, man. I mean, I guess that’s part of it. I also–" Mitch struggled to put his words together, before he finally came up with, "I’ve never, like, actually hit on a gay dude before?" His face was beet red.

"I mean– is it different from hitting on chicks?"

"Yes," said Mitch, bluntly.

"Oh," said Auston, a bit confused.

"I mean– I’ve never, like, gone to a gay bar and picked up a dude, alright? But I’ve like, spoken to dudes. Uh. On Grindr."

Auston didn’t know why Mitch was so embarrassed about confessing he was on Grindr, but he didn’t push it.

"Okay, uh, how’s it different?" asked Auston.

"I dunno. Like– it just is. I can’t explain it. But like– I dunno. I guess– I guess it could be fun to actually go do gay shit," said Mitch, "or, uh, bi shit, whatever. But like, I don’t know, this stuff’s kind of confusing, and I don’t want to drag the guys into it."

"Dude, if you want to hit on dudes, we want to help you hit on dudes," said Auston, which was at least partially true, even if the idea of Mitch flirting with someone else left a bad taste in his mouth. It was about Mitch, though, not Auston’s dumb crush. "Even the confusing shit."

Mitch turned an even darker shade of red. "I don’t want to tell Bozie I changed my mind, also," he admitted, and Auston smirked.

"I’ll take care of it."

The next time Bozie bothered him about the gay bar thing, Auston sighed and said "listen, do whatever, okay?" and Bozie took that for the approval it was.

* * *

They ended up going out a week and a half later, after their OT win in Tampa, and the club they ended up at was a fairly large one. Auston shouldn’t have been surprised that a gay club wouldn’t be any different from any other club. The only things that set it apart were a few cocktails whose names went over Auston’s head, and the fact that the patrons were almost all guys.

At the team’s table, Auston sipped his beer as Mitch drank something sweet and pinkish-orange that Bozie had insisted on ordering for him. The table was just a bit too small for all of them to sit comfortably, and Auston was pressed close against Mitch’s side.

"How’s that one tasting, Marns?" asked Marty, who sat on Mitch’s other side.

Mitch shrugged. "It’s alright, I guess."

Mitch was nervous, Auston knew; he’d freaked out about what to wear and sent Auston several different Snaps with potential outfits earlier in the evening, eventually settling on a shirt that was tight and black and had one more button undone than usual. Auston couldn’t stop staring at his arms.

Auston wanted to be drunk, so he downed the rest of his beer as fast as possible. "I might go up for another beer, anyone want one?" he asked.

"Wait a sec," said Mitch, who downed the rest of his cocktail in one gulp and started to stand up. "Yo, Willy, Matts, wanna do a shot?"

Auston got up, and Willy nodded from across the table. The three of them made their way to the bar. At some point early in the season it had become a tradition of theirs to do a shot together whenever they were all three out with the team, and usually it was something fancy and elaborate.

The area around the bar was pretty packed, so they stood at a table on the periphery of the crowd as they made a game plan.

"Willy, go in and order whatever shot you want," said Mitch.

"Why do I have to do it?" replied Willy.

"Please?" said Mitch, with a wide, fake smile plastered to his face. Willy rolled his eyes and walked up to the bar.

Auston turned to Mitch. "So, as bad as you thought it’d be, so far?"

Mitch shrugged. "Eh, it’s alright. Just... you know. Still too sober for all of this."

Auston gave him a sympathetic nod, and looked over towards the bar to see if Willy had made any progress. He really didn’t expect him to, but somehow, he was already talking to the bartender, who was nodding.

"Shit, Willy got through fast," said Mitch, smirking.

"Yeah," said Auston, and clearly Mitch found it funny, but Auston couldn’t figure out why.

"How much do you wanna bet he’ll come back with an extra round of shots, courtesy of that dude?" Mitch asked, pointing to a dude next to Willy.

"Willy?" said Auston. "Doubtful, man."

"That dude’s definitely checking him out," said Mitch.

"He could just be a fan," said Auston.

"A fan of his ass, maybe," responded Mitch.

"Checking out isn’t the same as buying drinks," said Auston. "And you’re awful at reading these kinds of situations."

"I’m amazing at these situations, and anyway, Willy’s the kind of guy who can pull free drinks at a gay bar."

Auston raised an eyebrow at Mitch. "You think Willy’s hot?"

Mitch carefully considered the question. "I think, between the three of us, he’s going to get the attention of a bartender quickest. Like, the guy’s a Swedish Ken doll."

It probably wasn’t fair to harp on it, because he knew Willy had the whole heartthrob vibe going for him, but Auston felt weirdly jealous. "You think Willy’s hotter than I am?" said Auston, faux-pouting.

Mitch rolled his eyes. "Fuck off, he’s not my type. But look– he’s back."

Sure enough, Willy was talking towards them with a tray holding 6 shots. Mitch smirked.

"Meet someone nice, Willy? Steal my thunder?" asked Mitch.

"Shut up and do a fucking shot, Mitchy," replied Willy, "he was perfectly nice, and wanted me to let you know that his friends think you two are cute."

"Nice wingmanning," said Mitch. "It’s way too early for anyone to be pulling, and we’re far too sober. So, gentleman, bottoms up?" said Mitch, holding up his glass. They did both shots quickly before returning to the table, and Auston was starting to feel the alcohol, which probably meant Mitch was solidly tipsy.

When they got back, there were vodka shots being passed around by a waiter, and the three of them joined in on that too, and then there was more to drink, and Auston stopped counting exactly how much he was drinking because his teammates were wonderful and loud and Mitch kept leaning against him, and laughing super loudly, and he was genuinely enjoying himself.

And then someone suggested the dance floor, and Mitch was grabbing Auston’s arm and smiled up at him, and that was how Auston found himself dancing along to music he barely recognized but loved nonetheless, Mitch right across from him, surrounded by men who were– who were dancing like it had a purpose. They were close, grinding, hips moving in ways that Auston found impressive. The floor was packed, too, and Auston took a step closer to Mitch, and Mitch moved toward him, grabbing Auston’s hands and singing along and smiling.

And then the song slowed down, and Mitch looked up at him, his eyes wide and his face smiling, and Auston let himself– for a second– look back down and just feel exactly how much he cared for this boy. The music muted in his ears, and his world narrowed in on how lucky he was to have Mitch in his life, and how much he relished every bit of affection Mitch threw his way, even if Mitch gave that kind of love away in spades. He felt the corners of his mouth turn up, and it occurred to him that his face must look so fucking dumb, his heart right on his sleeve, but he didn’t care. He was happy to show the world just how highly he thought of Mitch, whose hands were grabbing Auston’s, and whose fingers were tightening, and there was a moment where–

"Fucking fuck!" said Mitch, and the moment ended as someone spilled a drink all over Mitch’s arm.

It took Auston a moment to process that there was now a man touching Mitch, the man who was responsible for Mitch’s arm currently dripping with some clear liquid. And then Mitch was walking off the dance floor, and the guy was walking after him, and only after a few seconds of standing completely still did Auston think to trail after them. He quickly pushed through the densely packed herd of people in the direction he thought Mitch had gone off to. By the time he escaped, Mitch was nowhere to be seen, and Auston didn’t know what to do except send him a text asking where he was and head back to the table.

The only guys at the table were Bozie and Marty, and each of them was focused on their phones, so Auston didn’t feel too rude staring down at his, waiting for a reply from Mitch, or even a read receipt.

Nothing.

Auston was feeling a bit dizzy, and he wondered if he should be worried about Mitch, alone in a gay bar, being followed by a strange man whose face Auston couldn’t quite remember. Nervous, Auston pulled out his phone and sent Mitch a Snap of the near-empty table, and when that went unseen, Auston got up to look for him.

His first instinct was back on the dance floor, but it was huge and crowded, and the chance of him actually finding Mitch was slim, so after quickly checking to make sure he wasn’t standing right at the edge, looking for Auston, he went to check the bathroom.

Sure enough, Mitch was there, his whole arm under the dryer and his sleeve pushed all the way up. The man from the dance floor was also there, and Auston got a good look at him– he had a beard, and a stocky build, and if Auston had to guess, he would say he was older than them by at least a couple of years.

"Matts!" said Mitch, "Come here, I was gonna text you, dude."

"Oh, you’re the friend?" said the man, and Auston searched his voice for a hint of disappointment or something. "Michael here was looking for you."

Auston wondered about the name Michael. "I, uh, texted him. Sorry we got separated."

"Well," said the man, "I’ll head back to my table. Nice to meet you both," he said, and gave Mitch a nod.

"Yeah, you too, man," said Mitch, not moving from his place under the dryer, but using his free hand to wave at him.

As the door closed behind him, Auston turned to Mitch. "You alright, dude?"

"Yeah, no, it’s cool, just–" Mitch took his arm out of the dryer, and the bathroom was suddenly much quieter. "Cleaning that crap off my arm, so I wasn’t all sticky and shit."

"Gotcha," said Auston, not sure of where to look. "So, uh, what was up with that dude?"

Mitch flushed. "He was just being a good dude. You know. Making sure he didn’t like, ruin my shirt, and, uh, you know."

Auston felt confused. "Uh, I don’t know."

"He didn’t wanna leave me like, alone, you know, until I found you guys again."

"Oh."

"I mean, he wasn’t– I wasn’t– uh," said Mitch, and Auston found himself looking right at Mitch’s mouth, for some reason. "He wasn’t trying to pick me up, or anything. He has a boyfriend and shit. I think he was actually just looking out for me."

Auston couldn’t help the relief that spread over him. "Oh, okay," he said, and he felt his shoulders relax. He hadn’t looked away from Mitch’s mouth, because it was hard enough when he was in the right state of mind to exercise some self-control. He hoped he wasn’t freaking Mitch out.

"Are– dude, are you alright?" asked Mitch, his voice quieter than Auston expected it to be, but still ringing clearly in his ears.

"Yeah, yeah dude, I just–" Auston struggled with words, because fuck, this wasn’t a good time for these feelings to be flaring up. His instinct was to run and hide, but he was determined to stick it out and be here for Mitch.

"You gonna puke? Do you want some water?" Mitch asked, still looking concerned.

Water sounded good. "Uh, no, I just– are you having a good time?" Auston asked, shifting the focus away from himself hastily.

Mitch’s brow furrowed but he answered nonetheless. "Uh, yeah, dude. It’s– I guess it’s a team thing, right?"

Auston shrugged. "It’s about you," he said, because most things Auston did were about Mitch these days.

"I– yeah, yeah, I guess. Uh. It’s fun. Dancing and stuff, and–" Mitch’s voice trailed off. "Fuck, I’m drunk," he said, and started laughing.

Auston laughed with him. "Dude, same. Everyone’s fucking drunk."

"Dude, it’s like– man, this is wild. We’re like, at a gay bar with the team, you know? Like, there are just– there are so many dudes,” Mitch said.

“Uh, yeah,” said Auston, laughing a bit. “That’s kind of the point.”

"But like, these are dudes here who want to meet other dudes? And it’s like– I don’t actually wanna meet dudes in bars, you know? Or like, fuckin– I don’t wanna pick up random dudes and– do stuff with them in like, alleyways, even though dudes are apparently super into that? But like, I still wanna go and dance with cute guys and shit, because like– you know how if you’re not getting some regularly, you wanna hook up?"

"I– some people do, yeah," said Auston.

"I don’t know, man, I don’t fucking get that. Like, I wanna, like– I dunno. Meet some dude and just fucking– like, like him a lot, or some shit like that."

Auston really had no clue what to do with that information. "So– you’re saying you wanna, like, take it slow?"

Mitch looked confused, and leaned against the counter. "No, man, not slow. Just– I wanna meet dudes the way I meet chicks, you know?"

Auston nodded, and Mitch kept going with what seemed to be a whirlwind of drunk confessions. "Also, like, dude, I know I’m bi, but like, I dunno, I don’t want chicks right now?"

"Wait, so– you’re like, bi, but only for dudes?" asked Auston, confused.

"No, it’s not that like– like you know how they say this shit isn’t a choice or whatever, right? And it’s not. But like– like, I’m attracted to just... I dunno, people. And I’ve done like, meeting chicks as a straight dude. But I’ve never done meeting dudes as a bi dude, and like, I want to do more of the meeting dudes as a bi dude thing, because like, I like chicks enough, but there’s this new shit I’ve wanted to do forever, so like– I’m choosing, I guess? To just– to only do dudes. I don’t know. Is that biphobic?" asked Mitch, not quite at Auston.

Auston obediently shrugged. "Makes sense, dude," was all he said. He didn’t quite understand, really, but he didn’t know if he was bi or just gay for Mitch or what, and anyway, he wasn’t really feeling things for anyone besides Mitch these days.

"But like, dudes are so fucking hot," said Mitch, with a sigh.

"Anyone you like here tonight?" asked Auston.

After a second of thinking, Mitch shrugged. "I mean, there are just like, tons of good-looking dudes. I dunno. It’s fun. I liked dancing and shit."

"Uh, let’s go back to the dancing, then?" said Auston.

They made their way out of the bathroom, and instead of going right to the dance floor, grabbed a couple of glasses of water. "Wonder where the team is," wondered Mitch aloud, and as if on cue, Willy came up and threw his arm around Auston.

"Matts, Mitchy, we were wondering where you two ran off to," he said, smiling.

"Just taking a breather," said Auston.

"Come back to the table," said Willy, and Auston had the sense that he’d been sent to retrieve them, specifically. He felt vaguely guilty in a way he couldn’t place.

Still, they made their way back to the table, and were greeted enthusiastically by Mo and Gards.

"Mitchy!" said Gards. "The man of the hour!"

"Dude, we’ve been terrible wingmen," said Mo, and it was clear that both of them were three sheets to the wind. "We haven’t introduced you to any of the nice young men here."

Mitch shrugged. "It’s fine, I’m–"

Gards cut him off with a vigorous shake of the head. "It’s not fine, man. And even if it’s not tonight, there’s an entire future full of dick out there for you."

James walked up to the table, taking a seat beside Mo. "What’re we talking about?" he asked.

"The future of Mitch’s dick," replied Willy nonchalantly.

"I thought it was the future of dicks for Mitch?" said Gards.

"I really don’t want to talk about my dick," said Mitch, which made Auston blush a bit, but whatever.

"Fine, point is, we gotta know what you look for in a dude," said Mo, and Gards nodded.

"I don’t... I don’t really know?" said Mitch. "Like, I dunno, hot guys."

"That doesn’t help us at all," said Gards, as Hyman and Brownie walked up to the table. "Hey, Hymie, Brownie, we’re trying to figure out what Mitch is into."

"Oh, finally," said Brownie. "What’d we figure out?"

"Nothing yet," said Willy, "just hot ones."

Hyman frowned. "Why so stubborn, Mitchy?"

"I haven’t had a chance to fucking speak,” Mitch said. “And like, I dunno, I can’t just list off traits. Ask me if I’m into a certain dude, and I’ll tell you?" he suggested. "But just– don’t like, introduce me to them. You gotta– there are rules," said Mitch.

"You mean like, gay rules, or Mitch rules?" asked Gards bluntly.

"Like, I dunno, not having a fan accidentally find shit out rules? Just– don’t use my real name. Okay?" Mitch turned red. "And– and don’t fucking talk to guys for me unless you run it by me first, anyway."

The guys at the table seemed a bit taken aback, but nodded nonetheless. "Got it," said Gards. "So. Let’s narrow down Mitchy’s type."

Auston glanced over to see Mo texting, and then, all of a sudden, the entire team was there, surrounding Mitch, as Gards looked around the room for a suitable first choice.

"Uh," said Gards, "that dude."

He pointed to a shorter blonde man, whose lean frame was certainly muscular, and who had an ass that might’ve impressed Auston if he weren’t a hockey player.

Mitch looked at him and shrugged. "I dunno. He’s definitely– uh– cute?"

"So you like smaller guys," said Mo.

Mitch shook his head. "Guys, I’m telling you, I don’t actually have a type. He’s like, hot in a short way."

"Okay, so like, that guy over there–" said Hyman, pointing to a guy with a hipster beard and enormous arm muscles. "You think he’s hot too?"

Mitch crinkled his nose. "Okay, not that guy in particular, but that’s because his ass is like, flat." He paused. "But like, his arms are nice?" he suggested.

"Ah, so you’re an ass man," said Naz, and Mitch blushed a bit.

"Aren’t– I mean, I dunno. That’s not a type. Is it?" Mitch looked genuinely confused, and Auston found it ridiculously charming.

"You’ve just been spoiled by hockey players, eh?" said Bozie.

Mitch’s face turned harsh at that. "Shut the fuck up, I don’t creep on my teammates."

"No– not what I meant, dude," said Bozie, a little taken aback. "Just– you watched hockey and shit growing up, right? When you were a kid and stuff?"

"Uh, yeah?" said Mitch.

"So like, did you– you know. Do you think that level of... admiration, or whatever, affected your preferences?"

Mitch looked down, and Auston didn’t know if it was the shadow, or if Mitch’s face was that red with embarrassment, but either way, Bozie had clearly touched on something.

"I mean, I don’t know. Maybe. I guess," Mitch said reluctantly.

"Shit, Mitchy had a hockey crush!" said Naz gleefully.

"Shut up," said Mitch, but he was smiling a little.

"Alright, new game here, boys. Each of us guesses a dude in the league, and if Mitch thinks he’s hot, he takes a shot. If he doesn’t, you take a shot," proclaimed Naz, and Bozie high fived him.

"Dude, we’ll _die_ ," said Auston, mildly horrified, because he was already drunk, and Mitch was certainly drunker than he was.

Naz rolled his eyes. "A sip, then?" he said to the table, and the guys all nodded in agreement, except Auston, who would have preferred to not make Mitch drink more. Nonetheless, Brownie was sent off to get a couple beers for the table, and immediately, the game commenced.

"Matts, you start," said Bozie, pointing at him.

"Come on," he groaned. "I can’t think of anyone."

"Just name a hockey player, man," said Naz. "Get the ball rolling."

"Fine," he said, trying to think, which was hard, with everyone’s expectant faces pointing in his direction. Admittedly, he kind of did want to know what kinds of guys Mitch was into, but making an actual good guess would take time, so he just went with the first name that popped into his head. "Ovechkin," he said.

Mitch was startled for a second, then burst into giggles. "Man, that’s a crap guess," he said, still smiling widely, a bit of laughter still leaking out into his voice. And maybe it hadn’t been great if he were trying to actually figure out what kind of guy Mitch was into, but with Mitch looking happy, so Auston was pretty satisfied with his guess.

Obediently, Auston took a beer from Brownie and a long sip, and he wondered if he wasn’t imagining the way Mitch was staring at him.

"Okay, we’re going counterclockwise, so Willy next," said Bozie.

"Alright. Tyler Seguin," he said.

Mitch rolled his eyes. "I mean, yes? I’m not like, obsessed with his hockey, I guess, but– like, you guys saw the fuckin– that Zamboni photo? With the popsicle?"

"The Body Issue one?" asked Bozie, looking less giggly than he had at the start.

"Yeah. Man, you guys are starting with the easy ones," said Mitch, crossing his arms and looking smug. "Oh, wait," he said, grabbing a beer off the tray and taking a small sip.

"Okay, me next, right?" said Brownie. "So yes to Seguin, but what about Benn? Jamie Benn, I mean."

"I played with him in juniors," said Bozie. "So be careful about this, Mitchy."

"Okay, I feel weird about this one," Mitch said.

"No, no, don’t get me wrong, I’m _very_ interested in what you have to say about this."

"Okay, fine," said Mitch. "Uh, like, he gives off too straight a vibe? I guess?"

Bozie nearly choked at that. "Oh, wow, okay. Uh, wait, what makes a dude’s vibe straight? Is that, like, a thing?"

Mitch shrugged. "I mean, yeah? Sometimes? Not usually, but he like, really does."

"Okay, can I please tell Bennie that one? Not like, who you are, just that he has a straight vibe."

"Okay, fine, whatever. But he’s not– he’s not unattractive? I dunno, I’ve never met the dude outside of, like, playing against him."

"Okay, cool, thanks man. Okay. Uh, so is Brownie taking a drink?"

"Yeah, sorry, man."

Brownie shrugged, clearly not upset in the least, and then it was Naz’s turn.

"Alright, so, obvious one: Crosby."

Mitch turned bright red, and– okay, yeah, Auston could see being into Crosby. Wordlessly, Mitch took a sip of beer.

"Fucking knew it," said Naz. "His ass is fucking enormous."

Mitch kept his eyes focused on his lap. "I mean, it’s not just his ass," mumbled Mitch, and the guys were hollering, and, Auston realized, this was like, an actual celebrity crush that Mitch had.

"You mean, like, his hockey, and stuff?" said Hymie.

"I mean, yeah, and just... I dunno." Mitch looked the most embarrassed Auston had seen him all night. "He has, uh, nice eyes? And... a nice smile."

Auston was torn between overwhelming jealousy and incredible fondness, because that was– it was _sweet._ It was so sweet, and of course it was, because _Mitch_ was so sweet, and it made Auston’s heart ache, how sweet it was.

But then, the boys were moving on, so Auston forced his mind back on his teammates and the game at hand.

"Alright, my turn," said Bozie. "Letang."

Mitch thought about it, and then nodded. "Yeah, he’s like, cute, and stuff."

As they went on, the actual drinking rules fell away, but Auston was still pretty drunk, and once he sat back and let the game play itself out, he realized just how antsy the conversation was making him.

It wasn’t that it was that serious, and Mitch didn’t really open up about anything big. He admitted he thought guys with dogs were "like, a thousand times hotter" than guys with no pets, and that was really as personal as it got. It was just hard for Auston to stop mentally comparing himself to every dude Mitch mentioned, which, yeah, was ridiculous, and he knew it, but he just... he couldn’t stop himself.

"How about McDavid?" asked someone, and they were past taking turns, and Auston was so zoned out he couldn’t even tell who asked it. It had been one thing when they were talking about guys who were older, when it was just about hockey crushes and heroes, but Connor was Mitch’s friend, and maybe whoever was asking had forgotten about that, but it was just a little more real than the rest of them.

Auston didn’t know if he wanted to know Mitch’s answer or not, but he figured it was a bad idea if he stuck around for it anyway, so before Mitch had a chance to react, he stood up and said, "Alright, I’m tired, so, uh, I think I’m gonna head out."

Most of the guys responded with relative apathy, not paying attention to Auston at all, but Mitch’s brow furrowed. "You’re leaving?"

Auston shrugged. "I’m really tired," he said again. Which might have been true. It also might have just been that he was very drunk and very confused and very much jealous of his best friend, and the combination of those things made him want to fall into a warm bed and sleep.

He made his way out of the club with a polite nod to the group, and pulled out his phone to grab a cab as he walked away.

As he waited out in front of the club for his Uber, he felt someone run up behind him. "Hey," Mitch’s voice said, and Auston turned around and saw Mitch with a mildly concerned expression.

"Hey, are you–"

"I’m, uh, gonna stay for a bit more, but, uh– can we share a room tonight?" Mitch asked. "I’ll get the key from Brownie. I just, uh. I kinda need to, uh, debrief a bit."

Auston didn’t know what to make of that, and he was just too weirded out and too drunk to pick up on anything besides the worry in Mitch’s face and his voice. "Of course," he said softly.

Tension melted off of Mitch, and Auston’s stomach turned with familiar butterflies. Instinctively, he grabbed Mitch’s hand, and began rubbing small circles on it, and _what was he doing_ , this was such a bad idea, but Mitch seemed calmer, so maybe it wasn’t.

And fuck, he was so drunk.

Auston’s phone began to buzz with a call he knew was from an Uber driver, and so he let go of Mitch’s hand.

"I’ll see you in a bit, yeah?" said Mitch, then turned around and jogged back into the club.

Auston picked up his phone, found his cab, and made his way back to the hotel.

* * *

Auston had been back in his room for 15 minutes when he heard a knock at the door, and he opened it up to see Mitch.

"Uh, hey," said Mitch. "Uh– I’m sorry," he said.

"It’s okay. I mean, what are you apologizing for?" asked Auston.

Mitch shrugged. "Thanks for letting me stay here, I guess. I just– is it okay?"

"Yeah, man, whatever you need, I got your back," said Auston.

Mitch sighed, and sat down on the bed. Auston sat next to him.

"It’s just– I know the guys were trying to be cool and stuff, but like, I dunno. Like, when they were like, asking me about other dudes in the league, or whatever, it was like, fine, right? But like, now I’m kinda freaking out about like, telling them that shit?"

"I mean, I don’t think they’re judging, dude," said Auston.

"No, I know, but like– like, I can trust them and still not want to tell them shit, you know?"

"Oh," said Auston, trying to push down the awful guilty feeling that was crawling up.

"I mean– I like, played into it, I guess," said Mitch, his eyes focused on his hands.

"No, no, we– we shouldn’t have pushed you, man. Shit. Sorry, I didn’t realize–" Auston couldn’t help but feel awful to see Mitch this shaken, when he’d seemed fine at the club.

"Dude, no. It was fun, alright? It’s just– right now I feel weird about it. I don’t know. I don’t know if they even did anything wrong. It’s just– there’s a lot of shit going on in my head right now?"

"Makes sense," said Auston.

"Like– and this is just a different thing, yeah?– but this shit is scary sometimes, and– like, I kinda– don’t talk about the scarier stuff. Because being bi, and like, not having to be straight and shit, is fucking awesome. But I also just haven’t done any of this shit before, and I’m so used to keeping it a secret that even though I know I can talk about it, I still feel guilty as fuck when I do it in front of a large group of dudes, even though I shouldn’t, and I don’t even know whose fault any of this is, and it’s just so fucking confusing."

Auston didn’t know what to say, but Mitch just looked so lost that he didn’t even think before he put his arm around him, running his hand up and down Mitch’s bicep. Mitch relaxed into it immediately, like the touch alone made him feel calmer, more balanced. Auston tried not to read into it.

"Hey," he said. "It’s a lot, alright? It’s okay. It’s all okay." He was almost whispering.

"Fuck, I’m– I’m sorry if talking about guys makes you feel weird," Mitch said.

Auston squeezed him tighter in response. "It doesn’t," he said. "I’d feel weird if you wanted to talk about things but didn’t, alright?"

"Okay," said Mitch, and Auston said nothing in response, just continued to hold Mitch, who was clearly trying to hold back tears. Auston didn’t think that keeping that in was a good idea.

"Do you want some water?" said Auston.

Mitch nodded in response, not saying anything.

"Alright. Do you want ice? I’ll have to get from the machine in the hall."

Mitch nodded again, taking up Auston’s thinly-veiled offer of privacy.

Auston gave Mitch one last squeeze, and, not thinking, pressed his lips to his head. For a second he worried he’d done something wrong, but Mitch didn’t seem to tense up at it, so Auston just stood up and grabbed the ice bucket.

"I’ll be back in a second," he said, and he left.

He purposely walked up and down the hall a few times, then went to the ice machine two floors up. By the time the bucket was full, he worried he’d left too much time, so he rushed back down and opened the door, only to find the bed empty and the bathroom door shut, with light creeping out underneath.

He was opening the complimentary water bottle when Mitch stepped out, his face slightly puffy and damp, and, to Auston’s relief, more calm than before. Wordlessly, he finished pouring the water over the ice and handed the glass to Mitch.

After a long sip, Mitch looked at him. "Thanks, man," he said, and Auston smiled a little and shrugged.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

Mitch looked down at the floor. "Better," he said. "Uh. Sorry, you know, for, uh, yeah."

"Stop apologizing," said Auston. "Seriously."

Mitch opened his mouth, but closed it again. "Alright," he said. "Also, uh, don’t mention that to the other guys."

Auston nodded. "D’you think they’re still at the club?" he asked, sitting down on the edge of one of the beds.

Mitch shrugged, and sat down across from him. "A couple left when I did. But I think Mo and Gards hung back? And so did Willy."

"Willy?" Auston was surprised at that; Willy was usually one of the first to leave.

"Dude, after you left, he started like, talking to the bartender about like, cocktails and shit? Poor guy," he said, smiling a bit.

"The bartender, you mean?" asked Auston.

"Yeah, he definitely thought it was like, a flirting thing," said Mitch.

"But it was just Willy," said Auston, and Mitch nodded.

"Dude would do so well if he were gay," said Mitch. "If we ever go back to a gay bar, I want to like, take a shot every time he gets hit on."

Auston knew he shouldn’t be jealous, because Mitch was definitely not interested in William Nylander, of all people, but apparently the rational part of his brain wasn’t getting that message through to the rest of him. "He’s not even the best looking dude on the team," said Auston.

Mitch shrugged, and said nothing, just gave Auston a teasing grin.

"Wait," said Auston, "do you think he’s the best looking dude on the team?"

"No, I think _I’m_ the best looking guy on the team," said Mitch.

Auston smiled wide at that. "Yeah, okay, fair," he said. "But second best?"

"I’m not gonna rank the team for you, man. I don’t actually pay attention to that shit when it comes to like, teammates." said Mitch, stubbornly.

Auston raised his eyebrow. "No teammates as a rule?" He knew it was a bad idea to ask the second he said it.

Mitch blushed. "I dunno, like, yeah? What kind of question is that, man?"

Auston shrugged. "What about– uh, Strome," he said, because the curiosity was killing him.

Clearly it struck a chord with Mitch, because he blinked in shock before looking away from Auston.

"We– that was a weird thing," said Mitch. "We didn’t like, do shit until we were kind of– I dunno," he said. "Also, like, I was kind of in love with him for a while, before we played together."

"In love?" said Auston, his stomach churning.

"I mean, not like, love-love. But I was just super– into him? I don’t know," he said, sighing exasperatedly.

"I thought you two were like, rivals," said Auston.

"I mean, I guess. He found me annoying, and I thought he was cute, so– you know," Mitch replied, gesturing with his hand.

"But like, when did you two, like– I don’t know," said Auston, struggling to find the words.

"Uh." Mitch blushed. "Off and on between like, U17’s and the end of last season? But like– it wasn’t– I don’t know how to say this," he said. "It was– PG-13. For a while."

"Uh– that sounds confusing," said Auston.

"Like– okay I’m just– here’s what happened, okay?"

"Okay," said Auston.

"So– we like, made out? At U17’s. After we played like, on the same line for the first time. And then we like, kept making out and shit, and then we– like, hung out? One on one? And like, they were kind of like dates, and then there were sleepovers where we just like, made out and cuddled and stuff, and then, uh, at the combine, we–" Mitch blushed. "Uh. Yeah. And then we kept doing that, and like, I dunno, we didn’t date other people, right? And I’m like, so sure we weren’t just, being buddies, because there was like, texting, and Skype, and like, we did like, genuinely break up? But we’re still bros. It’s so weird."

"Uh," said Auston, "Shit, yeah, that’s confusing."

"Isn’t it?" said Mitch, smirking. "I dunno. He helped me set up my Grindr, though. Took the pictures and stuff."

Auston burst out laughing at that. "Holy shit, no way. You gotta let me see it."

"Alright," he said, "but I use a fake name."

"Is that what you told the guy in the club?" said Auston, remembering the dude in the bathroom.

Mitch nodded. "Yeah. I mean, like, that’s what you do when you’re, uh, trying to keep it away from the media? Even if a dude recognizes me, or whatever, at least he knows I’m trying to keep a low profile."

"So, uh, you’re Michael?" said Auston.

Mitch shrugged. "It’s close to Mitchell. That’s literally the only reason I chose it. No other story there."

"Ah," said Auston. "Is that what most guys do?"

"Actually," said Mitch, grinning broadly, "some guys get like, thematic. I’ve heard of hockey players going by Stanley. And there’s one dude who apparently just uses the name of another dude on his team, straight up."

"Where do you hear these things?" asked Auston, smiling.

"Like, half from Stromer and half from the internet? And like, dudes talk about this shit in the O."

Auston wondered what it would have been like to actually grow up with hockey around him, and to not have to learn how to navigate the league all on his own, and have people talk about his “unconventional hockey background” or “unusual path to the NHL” all the time. Instead of asking about that, though, he just said "alright, show me this account."

Mitch smirked and pulled up his phone, swiping his thumb around the screen before he turned so Auston could see it. The picture on the screen was faceless, save for the bottom of Mitch’s chin, and he was definitely shirtless– by the water, it looked like, and Auston could see the waistband of his underpants, which were some brand Auston didn’t recognize, and, oh my gosh he looked hot. Like, unfairly, unreasonably hot. One of his hands was resting on his hip, teasing at the waistband of the dark boxer-briefs, and the other was stretched up and behind his head. His abs looked more defined than normal, which was probably some combination of posture and lighting, because– yeah, Mitch was attractive, but this was like, underwear-model hot. And Auston found Mitch, his scrawny best friend and teammate, hot, so seeing him like this was a lot.

"Wow," was all Auston said. "So this is Grindr." He couldn’t stop staring at the picture, which, he guessed, was kind of the point of a picture like that, but just– it felt so unfair, all of a sudden. Mitch was driving him insane, every second of every day, and yet there he was, blissfully unaware that he was taking Auston apart just by showing him one fucking picture

"Stromer took this?" he asked.

Mitch nodded. "Yeah, he’s secretly a douchebag who like, takes artsy pictures and shit. Has a fucking Insta for it."

"Really?"

"Yep."

"Fuckin’ nerd," said Auston, even though he kind of wanted to see it

"Yeah," said Mitch, a fond smile on his face that made Auston feel incredibly jealous. "Hey– uh, I didn’t get my bag or whatever, but I wanna change out of this, so I’m just gonna head upstairs and grab some sweats?"

"You can borrow some of mine," said Auston, before realizing what he’d said.

Mitch shrugged. "Sure, whatever. Will your stuff fit?"

"I mean– they’re sweats, right? One size fits all?" If Auston had been trying to make better decisions, he probably would’ve taken the out and let Mitch go get his own stuff. But the idea of Mitch in his clothing was too tempting, and he didn’t really want Mitch to leave, anyway.

Auston got up and dug a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt from his suitcase, and threw them in Mitch’s direction. For some reason, he’d thought that maybe Mitch would go to change in the bathroom, but then Mitch began to unbutton his shirt. It was normal, Auston knew– they were teammates, they shared a locker room, showered together– of course it shouldn’t be weird for Mitch to change in front of him. But in the locker room, Auston was too busy thinking about hockey and worrying about the team to think about Mitch. Here, all he could think about was the way Mitch’s fingers drunkenly, slowly moved down the front of his shirt, a little too out of it to unbutton quickly, and Auston had to bite his lip to stop himself from offering to help.

Mitch looked up, and Auston quickly averted his eyes, hoping he hadn’t been caught staring. If he had, Mitch didn’t say anything. To distract himself, Auston began to look at his phone, and when he next looked back up, Mitch was on the other bed, wearing Auston’s clothes. They were too big for Mitch’s small frame. The shirt, which had stretched over Auston’s chest, seemed to float over Mitch, hanging onto his narrower shoulders and just brushing the rest of his torso. The pants were clearly too long, and as a result, scrunched around the bottom.

He looked so cozy, and Auston kind of just wanted to hold him.

Which... was dumb, Auston reminded himself, but he was drunk, and sleepy, and wanted to reach out and touch him, run his hands through his hair and feel Mitch’s warm skin relax against him.

He told himself to calm down, though, and said "I’m gonna watch some TV and then go to sleep?" He meant it as a subtle invitation to join him.

Thankfully, Mitch picked up on it, and crawled under the covers of Auston’s bed as Auston grabbed his laptop from his backpack.

"Let’s watch _Friends_ ," he said.

Auston shrugged, went to Netflix, and selected a random episode from a random season.

Five minutes later, Mitch fell asleep, slumping onto Auston’s shoulder. It was all Auston could do to run his hands through his hair until he gently disentangled them, only enough for him to fall asleep on the other side of the bed, the feet between them feeling more like miles as he drifted off.

* * *

On the plane ride home, the guys gave Auston and Mitch a few weird looks, which Auston pretended not to notice. Marty insisted on sitting next to Mitch, so Mo took the seat beside Auston, Gards across the aisle.

"So," said Mo, "you and Mitch catch up last night?"

"Uh, yeah," said Auston, feeling like he was being interrogated.

"Was he– you know. Was he cool after last night?"

Auston glanced over to where Mitch was sitting a few rows back, laughing at something Marty said, and shrugged. "Yeah, we just talked and shit."

"Did anyone like, make him–" Mo stopped, searching for the right word. "Did anyone say anything like, offensive?"

"Oh, yeah, no. You guys are good," said Auston.

"You sure?" said Mo. "He like, rushed out right after you."

Auston shrugged. "I dunno man. Ask him about it?"

"Okay," said Mo, and the rest of the plane ride passed uneventfully.

When the plane touched down and Auston turned on his phone, he saw a few texts, which he vowed to look over later, and when he opened Instagram, he saw a bunch of messages, which was pretty normal, except–

Except there was one from Dylan Strome, which. Auston hadn’t been expecting that.

_dylstrome19: hey_

Auston blinked at it, then responded.

_auston_matthews: yo wassup_

_dylstrome19: checkin in on marns– heard u guys went out last night?_

_auston_matthews: the team did yah_

_dylstrome19: no shit lol. how’s he doin?_

_dylstrome19: u can tell me this stuff._

Auston tried not to be annoyed, because clearly Dylan wasn’t trying to cross any boundaries, but he was still wary.

_auston_matthews: i don’t know?_

_dylstrome19: u don’t know how he’s doing?_

_dylstrome19: or u don’t know if u can tell me_

_auston_matthews: that one_

_dylstrome19: listen i get it, i just wanna see how he’s doing w/ the coming out stuff. and like, u kno_

_dylstrome19: he wouldn’t tell me if shit was bothering him_

_dylstrome19: thinks i don’t wanna hear about it or w/e but_

_dylstrome19: idk are the other guys being cool?_

_auston_matthews: uh yah mo (rielly) asked to make sure they weren’t like accidentally being shitty about it?_

_auston_matthews: they just really want him to feel accepted_

_dylstrome19: yeah, tru, just make sure things get normal soon though_

_auston_matthews: what do u mean_

_dylstrome19: like idk, everyone’s gonna say shit to make it clear that theyre cool instead of just being cool._

_dylstrome19: he said you’ve been normal the whole time_

_auston_matthews: ah_

_dylstrome19: i probably shouldn’t tell you this but i have a boyfriend_

Auston really, really didn’t know what to do with that information, and how awkwardly it was dumped into the middle of their conversation, but he was grateful for it nonetheless.

_auston_matthews: congratulations man_

_dylstrome19: lol thx. mitch knows. but like yah– just_

_dylstrome19: he’s my boy, i worry bout him_

_auston_matthews: haha i think he’ll be fine? he’s got me_

_dylstrome19: yep, let’s hope so._

Auston didn’t know what that last text was referring to, but the conversation felt over, and anyway, it was time to get off the plane.

It wasn’t until he got home and opened his bag that he realized Mitch still had his clothing.

* * *

Auston didn’t even think before agreeing when Mitch asked to come over after morning skate. It was the second night of a back-to-back at home, and they were both feeling exhausted.

"I just... I dunno," said Mitch, as they made their way to Mitch’s car. "I feel like crap, and my mom will just be worrying and shit, and I just don’t really want to deal with questions right now." It had been a rough game last night for Mitch, who had taken a few hard hits and gone without a point, and who was probably blaming himself for the loss.

Mitch started the car, and made no move to put on any music, which Auston did not like one bit. It was one thing for Mitch to be sad, but another entirely for Auston to _let_ him be sad. Determined, Auston grabbed Mitch’s phone out of the cup holder.

"What are you doing?" asked Mitch, the exhaustion leaking into his words.

"Putting on music," replied Auston.

Mitch only shrugged, which Auston took as a go-ahead to hit play on Mitch’s dumb driving playlist.

As Ariana Grande filled the car, Mitch’s shoulders seemed to relax, and he hummed along, even if he wasn’t doing his usual scream-singing. Encouraged by the progress, Auston sang properly.

"Dude," said Mitch, smiling now, "since when do you know the words to this song?"

Auston shrugged. "It’s good pump-up music, right?"

They came to a red light, and Mitch turned to give Auston a look. "You actually listen to it?"

"Yeah?" said Auston, and Mitch’s face did something that Auston couldn’t quite process, but he could tell it was happy.

"Then why’re you a dick about letting me play it in the car?"

Auston shrugged and laughed a bit, and Mitch turned his eyes back on the road.

"You’re just an asshole," said Mitch.

"Guess so, buddy," said Auston, and as Mitch began to finally sing along, Auston felt the relief of Mitch’s joy so strongly. It felt like he’d done something _right,_ by making Mitch happy again.

Once they reached Auston’s place, Mitch collapsed onto the couch. "Chel?" he asked, as Auston sat, taking a seat on the couch where Mitch’s feet were. Mitch, instead of moving his feet away, put them– not quite in Auston’s lap, but definitely leaning against his thighs.

"I, uh, kind of just wanna clear my head before the game?" said Auston. He knew Mitch liked to play video games before he settled into his pre-game nap, but that wasn’t Auston’s thing.

"Alright, TV, then?" said Mitch. "I’m gonna play Candy Crush so you can put on whatever."

"You sure?" said Auston.

"Yeah, man, I’m cool with it," said Mitch, so easily that Auston believed him.

Auston put on Law and Order, because it was on, and Mitch looked up from his phone.

"People actually watch Law and Order?" said Mitch.

"Like, everyone watches Law and Order," said Auston.

"Yeah, but I’ve never met an actual person who does. Besides my mom," said Mitch.

"Your mom counts," said Auston.

" _Your_ mom counts," retorted Mitch.

"You got me there," said Auston. "You’re one to talk, man. You’re playing Candy Crush."

"So?" said Mitch, looking up. "It’s a strategy game. Good for your brain muscles, or whatever."

"I really doubt that," said Auston dryly. "Also, who still plays Candy Crush?"

"Uh, me, clearly," said Mitch.

"What level are you even on?" said Auston, and Mitch shrugged.

"I’ll tell you after I beat it," said Mitch.

They settled into silence for a few seconds before Mitch pumped his fist in the air. "Beat it," he said. "And it was... 1563," he said.

"You’re fucking with me," said Auston.

"Nope," said Mitch. "Look."

Sure enough, when Auston looked at Mitch’s phone, he could see that he’d been telling the truth.

"Dude," he said, "what the fuck."

Mitch shrugged. "I’m an expert," he said.

"You’re a dork," said Auston.

Mitch stuck his tongue out at Auston, and put his feet up so they were resting on Auston’s thigh properly. The contact felt nice to Auston, and he relaxed as he watched the show play out mindlessly in front of him.

Mitch got up to go to the bathroom right before the end credits began to roll, and came back as Auston was queuing up another episode. He lay down on the couch again, this time with his head in Auston’s lap.

Auston willed himself to calm down. This was just what Mitch did, and he didn’t want to ask Mitch to get up, because he liked it when Mitch cuddled him.

Even if it wasn’t in his own best interest.

Mitch began to absently play Candy Crush again, and Auston found his eyes drifting towards Mitch’s phone instead of the television.

"Hey–" he said, as Mitch swiped his thumb to match up the candies.

Mitch looked up. "What?" he asked.

"Uh, why didn’t you use the stripey thingy?" said Auston

Mitch snorted. "Amateur move," he said. "Gotta be thinking ahead."

"What does that even mean?" said Auston.

"Watch this," he said, and in a few moves, his phone lit up with an impressive combination of colorful, candy-based explosions. Mitch looked up at him with a smug expression on his face. "See? Pays off," he said.

"Whatever," said Auston. "It’s a dumb game."

"Your face is a dumb game," said Mitch, his mind back in the game. Auston rolled his eyes and watched Mitch play until the episode ended, and he was about to queue up another one, when he realized he should probably get ready for his pregame nap.

"Hey," said Auston, "I’m gonna take a nap now. Uh, are you staying around here until gametime?"

Mitch nodded, but caught himself. "Shit, uh, can’t. Gameday suit."

Auston felt disappointed at that, so he said "we can stop by your place to pick it up?"

Mitch blushed, and shook his head. "Uh, no, it’s fine, I don’t wanna mess with your afternoon or whatever. I’ll just– uh, I’ll be back to pick you up."

Auston could only nod as Mitch frantically gathered up his stuff, half running out the door when he said "See you later, Matts?"

"Later," was all Auston said, and Mitch shut the door behind him.

* * *

Auston didn’t get any sort of explanation for Mitch’s weird behavior until after the game. It was late, and while a bunch of the guys– Mitch included– had gone out to celebrate, Auston had been exhausted and just wanted to go home. It was as he was getting ready for bed that he got a DM from Strome.

_dylstrome19: hey marns is being weird so don’t tell him i’m messaging u_

_dylstrome19: but he has ur shirt + sweats, and apparently they’re like, lucky or s/t_

_dylstrome19: so he wears them a lot_

_dylstrome19: and he thinks ur gonna think it’s weird?_

_dylstrome19: i told him u probably already think he’s weird_

_Oh_ , thought Auston, the image of Mitch asleep in his oversized sweatpants and shirt invading his head and making him blush. Mitch thought that Auston’s clothing was special– was _lucky_ – and Auston tried, really hard, to stop himself from thinking that meant something. Taking a deep breath, he wrote back a message.

_auston_matthews: yah as long as he doesn’t lose them_

_dylstrome19: lol he might_

_dylstrome19: also how are things? like w. the team and bi stuff_

_auston_matthews: fine? nothing’s really changed_

_dylstrome19: guys aren’t weird about it?_

_auston_matthews: we’re all good, still_

_dylstrome19: you’re not weird about it?_

Auston bit his lip, unsure of how to respond, because he got the sense Strome was... vetting him? Maybe? He felt evaluated every time they talked.

_auston_matthews: i don’t think so? did mitch say something_

_auston_matthews: if i am he hasn’t told me?_

_dylstrome19: nah i think ur good, he’s just paranoid bout u_

_auston_matthews: why?_

_dylstrome19: ur his best friend there?_

It wasn’t a big thing to say, but it felt substantial to Auston. Hearing that he mattered to Mitch was a lot, and he understood, a little more, why Strome was being so protective.

_auston_matthews: i have his back_

_auston_matthews: trying my best at least?_

_dylstrome19: good call on that_

_auston_matthews: thx_

_auston_matthews: how’s erie?_

_dylstrome19: lol bf’s visiting next week, so itll suck a little less_

_dylstrome19: anyway imma tell marns 2 tell u bout the clothes._

_auston_matthews:_

Figuring that was it for the night, Auston began to scroll Instagram. A few minutes later, he got a text from Mitch.

_Mitch: heyyyy so remember when we were in tampa n i borrowed ur sweats_

_Mitch: im rl sorry but i never gave them back???_

_Auston: lol i figured it’s nbd_

_Mitch: okay soooo_

_Mitch: i wore them before our next game, and then we won? and then the same thing happened the game after_

_Auston: dude_

_Auston: u gotta keep wearing them_

_Mitch: IKR!_

_Auston: lol where r u guys_

_Mitch: we went 2 a bar but i wasn’t feelin it so i left_

_Mitch: hey weird q: r u n stromer friends now?_

_Auston: he messaged me a few weeks ago?_

_Mitch: howd he get ur #_

_Auston: he didn’t, slid in2 the dms_

_Mitch: insta?_

_Auston: yah_

_Mitch: what do u guys talk about_

_Auston: idk he was checkin up on u_

_Mitch: eh, he’s just bored_

_Mitch: apparently he’s doin the whole ldr thing?_

_Auston: yeah he mentioned that he has a bf_

_Mitch: wait did he tell u who he’s dating?_

_Auston: no? did he tell u_

_Mitch: like he didn’t but his bf did kinda?_

_Mitch: wait i shouldn’t have said that_

_Auston: i think ur good im not gonna figure out who it is_

_Mitch: man it’s annoying_

_Mitch: like there’s so much to talk about and i always forget who knows what already_

_Mitch: and i have no one here to gossip with rip_

_Auston: u got me, i don’t know ur friends from the o_

_Mitch: u n stromer r bff’s now!_

_Auston: its true #bestfriends_

_Mitch: can’t believe u replaced me_

_Auston: lol i could never_

There was no response for a few minutes, and Auston was worried that his last text had gone too far, when several came in from Mitch in rapid succession.

_Mitch: <3<3<3_

_Mitch: man cant believe ur letting me keep these sweats they’re so comfy yo_

_Auston: ur wearing them?_

This was a bad road to be going down. It was one that Auston shouldn’t be going down. But he couldn’t stop picturing Mitch in his sweatpants.

_Mitch: yah they’re lucky!_

Then, Auston saw a little ghost in a yellow square telling him he had a Snap from Mitch, and when he opened it, he saw Mitch, standing in front of a mirror wearing no shirt and only the sweats, which sat low on his hipbones, and Auston could see all of Mitch’s stomach. Before Auston realized what he was doing, he took a screenshot. His phone buzzed again with a text.

_Mitch: screenshot?_

_Auston: cant forget the douchiest pic i’ve ever gotten_

_Auston: shirtless mirror selfie_

_Mitch: lol nah, bet u just think i’m pretty ;)_

_Auston: pretty toolish_

_Mitch: #rude i was just complimenting ur excellent choice of sweatpants_

_Auston: glad u find them cozy_

Auston couldn’t breathe, just a little; it was too much. He wanted Mitch too much, and through all the flirting and the teasing and the touching, he couldn’t work past it. But at the same time, he couldn’t stop smiling. He was angry at himself, because he just... he couldn’t give it up. He knew what he was doing, and he kept choosing to let Mitch flirt and cuddle, because he wanted him, so badly, and he wanted him to want him back.

But the part he couldn’t let himself accept was– Mitch was a flirt. Mitch flirted with everyone, and even if he did like Auston a little, he didn’t think Mitch actually wanted to date Auston. And for all Auston believed that Mitch valued him and loved him, he couldn’t make himself believe that Mitch actually wanted him.

Instead of crying, Auston sent Mitch another text.

_Auston: they look good on u_

Because– well, it was true.

* * *

Naz, Marty, and Gards had insisted on taking Mitch out after their loss in Winnipeg, which left Auston with Hymie, Willy, James, and Mo; everyone else hadn’t really been in the mood to go out, but Auston was pissed after the game.

He kind of just wanted to spend time with Mitch, falling asleep in the same bed while they watched some dumb sitcom– which had become their thing, especially after a rough loss or any particularly exhausting game.

But instead, Auston was here, and trying to not spend too much time thinking about Mitch.

Willy and Hymie were going back and forth talking about television or movies or something, and Auston didn’t have much to contribute to their conversation, so he kept his head down until he heard–

"Yeah, man, everyone’s seen _The Office._ I keep trying to get Mitchy to start it," said Hyman.

Auston perked up at the mention of Mitch’s name.

"I’ve never seen it," responded Willy.

"It’s good," said Auston. "Mitch would probably like it, too," he said, directing the comment at Zach.

Willy and Hyman shared a glance, but Hyman responded normally. "That’s what I’ve been telling him! Except he’s being an ass about it."

Auston smiled. "Of course he is," he said, then pulled out his phone and texted Mitch.

_Auston: heard you’ve never watched the office? not cool_

He wasn’t expecting a response, but one came shockingly fast.

_Mitch: cause hyman’s so fucking annoying bout it._

_Auston: it’s good though_

_Mitch: ill watch if if hyman’s not there lol_

_Auston: im telling him u said that_

"Hey, Hyman," said Auston. "Mitch said he’ll only watch _The Office_ if you’re not there."

"Tell him to go fuck himself," said Hyman.

_Auston: he says to go fuck yourself_

_Mitch: classy_

_Mitch: hey what r u guys doin_

_Auston: bunch of us r out, hbu?_

_Mitch: still w/ gards+naz+marty, they want to have a srs convo w/ me?_

_Auston: what bout_

_Mitch: idk sum gay shit probably_

_Mitch: like actually tho they keep thinking i have a secret bf?? or hinting at it_

_Auston: lol do u?_

_Mitch: ofc not_

_Mitch: honestly half the reason im not out 2 my mom is to avoid q’s like this_

_Auston: 3 team dads = 1 mom?_

_Mitch: that makes sense lol_

In all honesty, Auston had completely forgotten that Mitch wasn’t technically out to his mom, which was something he made a mental note to check up on later with Mitch.

"Who are you texting?" said Hyman.

"Oh, Mitch," said Auston absently, smiling slightly.

"Wait, you’re texting Mitch?" said Mo, from the other end of the table. "I thought he was out with Gards."

"He is," said Auston.

"Why’d they go out without us?" asked James.

"They think Mitch is seeing someone, or at least, like, likes someone," responded Mo.

"So that required a whole thing?" said James, raising an eyebrow.

“Everything’s always a whole thing with you guys,” said Willy.

"Marty seemed to insist it was important," said Mo.

Auston knew, he _knew_ Mitch didn’t have a secret boyfriend. But Mitch might have a secret... someone. Maybe not a boyfriend, maybe just a dude he was texting with, who he’d met on Grindr or something. And it was this shit that made Auston angry at himself and his dumb feelings, because he should have noticed this, if everyone else on the team did.

He didn’t speak much for the rest of the night.

* * *

 

After they got back from Winnipeg, they had two days off, and Auston had planned a day off alone, which meant a day off with Mitch on his couch. Specifically, it meant a day with Mitch’s head in his lap as Auston combed his fingers through his hair, which was one of Auston’s favorite things to do.

"Hey," said Auston, with a thought that had been bothering him for a few days. "I didn’t realize you weren’t, like, out to your mom."

"Oh. Yeah, that’s a thing," said Mitch.

"Is that like... bothering you?" asked Auston.

Mitch shrugged. "I don’t know. Coming out is like, tiring, man."

"I’d imagine," said Auston. "I mean, do you want her to know, though?"

"Yeah," said Mitch, sighing. "But she’s going to ask if I have a boyfriend, because no one understands coming out as bi unless you’re actively gay-dating someone. And it’s just like– annoying? That that’s everyone’s first response."

"Well," said Auston, "maybe you could– bring it up in a relevant way?"

"What does that even mean?" said Mitch.

"Like, hey mom, isn’t that boy cute? I think so, because I’m into dudes, tada," said Auston, doing a little jazz hands-type gesture.

Mitch snorted at that. "That’s awful. I don’t wanna talk about dudes with my mom."

"Okay, then just leave Grindr open on your phone and accidentally leave it at home."

"Dude," said Mitch, "it would be like, hundreds of dick pics." He turned to bury his face in Auston’s leg, presumably to demonstrate just how disgusted he was by that image, but the biggest effect it had was that Auston felt Mitch on his upper thigh, fake-gagging and giggling, and Auston flushed when he felt his dick get slightly hard. He hoped Mitch didn’t notice.

"Well, uh, then– I dunno, just keep talking about famous bi people until she gets the hint? Or just like, do it over text, and avoid the followup questions.

Mitch wrinkled his nose at that. "I can’t come out to my mom over text."

"You can do whatever you want," said Auston. "It’s your bi-ness, dude."

"’Your bi-ness’ sounds like ’your highness,’" said Mitch. "That’s what you gotta call me from now on."

"Whatever, loser," said Auston.

"I think you meant, ’whatever, your bi-ness,’" said Mitch, smirking, and Auston ruffled his hair just to be an asshole.

"Hey, not cool," said Mitch.

"What are you talking about? I made it look better," teased Auston.

"Whatever, dick. Anyway, if I can come out to my mom over text, I’m gonna do it right fuckin now."

"Right– what?" said Auston, taken aback.

"Yep, right now," he said, and he was opening messenger.

"What are you gonna say?" said Auston.

Mitch spoke each word as he typed it. "’Hey Mom, I don’t wanna make a big deal about it, but I like guys and girls. The team knows, and I’m not seeing anyone, but I wanted to tell you. I love you.’"

"That– sounds good," said Auston, but Mitch was hitting send before Auston could finish it.

Within a few minutes, she texted back, and Auston averted his eyes as Mitch opened it, his hands shaking slightly.

"Aww," said Mitch, smiling widely, and turned his phone screen to Auston to show him her response, which was a ton of heart emojis, followed by a few rainbow flags, a couple of dog emojis, and even more heart emojis to finish it off.

"That’s so fucking cute," said Auston, a smile creeping onto his face as a sense of warmth grew within him.

"Dude, take a picture of me to send to her," Mitch said, and Auston obediently pressed the center button as Mitch bounced up on his knees on the couch, made a heart sign with his fingers and smiled wide and toothily.

"Fuck, that’s adorable," said Auston, before he realized he was speaking out loud. He immediately blushed and bit his lip to avoid stammering out something dumb.

Thankfully, Mitch grinned at the praise. "I know," he said, and bounced back to sitting on the couch, his head leaning on Auston’s shoulder.

Auston stared at Mitch’s face for longer than was necessary, and Mitch’s face went from smiling to concerned. "Are you okay, dude?" he said, lifting his head up.

"I– yeah, of course, what’s up?" said Auston, missing the weight of Mitch’s head.

"You just, like, spaced out in my direction," said Mitch.

 _No, I was staring at you,_ Auston’s mind filled in unhelpfully. "Oh, uh, no, it’s fine. I’m just– really happy for you?" he offered, and it sounded like a lie, which, it shouldn’t have, because he was.

"Dude," said Mitch, who shifted slightly away from Auston. "I’m sorry if–"

"No, you have nothing to apologize for," said Auston, "it’s all fine, just a weird moment, I swear."

Mitch looked cautious. "If you say so," he said, still not leaning back onto Auston, and Auston couldn’t take this anymore, constantly feeling like he was getting caught, having to brush it off and hope he didn’t make Mitch feel weird. It fucking sucked.

"I just–" Auston said, and sighed. “It’s really nothing, alright?”

“I get it,” said Mitch, but he wasn’t meeting Auston’s eyes, and there was still too much space between them, and it was so clear that both of them wanted to be closer to each other, and it was just so dumb and unnecessary to be far apart right now.

“No, dude, like– I want–” he reached out and put a hand on Mitch’s shoulder, and Mitch turned to look at him and–

And they were staring at each other, both of them not knowing what to say and neither of them wanting to look away. The sudden intensity made Auston feel dizzy. It felt like something was coming to a head, something that had been building for weeks now, and Auston couldn’t make himself brush this off anymore, he refused to, because Mitch was staring back, and this was big. Mitch‘s expression was confused and nervous, but Auston saw a bit of hope in his eyes, and this– this was a moment, and they both knew it. Mitch gulped, and Auston’s eyes flickered down to Mitch’s lips, and fuck, it wasn’t worth it to pretend like this was going to pass anytime soon. Auston leaned in, and Mitch’s eyes were following Auston’s mouth, and–

Before he knew what he was doing, he pressed his lips against Mitch’s.

It was soft, and gentle, and over too quickly, because as soon as Auston’s brain caught up with him, he was fucking terrified. Before Mitch could react, Auston pulled away gently before awkwardly turning his head away. This– this hadn’t been his plan. His plan had been to wait it out until Mitch got a boyfriend or a girlfriend, mope around for a few days, then, hopefully, get over it. He didn’t want to fuck things up with them, and he really, really didn’t want to fuck things up for Mitch.

When he was finally able to make himself look at Mitch a few seconds later, he saw Mitch staring at him, his fingers to his lips.

Then, Mitch leaned in, and Mitch was kissing him back.

Mitch was kissing him back, and it was as incredible as Auston had imagined it being– Mitch tasted a bit like Gatorade and smelled like _Mitch_ and Auston never wanted to stop. Mitch was kissing him back and it was beautiful, and sweet, and Mitch turned his body so that they were fully facing each other, and he opened his mouth, and holy shit, Mitch was kissing him and his hand was on Auston’s thigh and Auston didn’t know which one of them sped things up first, but soon, Auston’s hands were on Mitch’s waist and they were honest-to-god making out, and Auston pulled Mitch closer and Mitch made a noise at that and–

Mitch broke away.

"Matts," he said, his voice kind of shaky.

Auston ran his hands absently up and down Mitch’s sides, and holy shit, Mitch’s lips were red, because he’d been kissed, because he’d been kissing _Auston_. "Mitch," he said, a little awed at the sight in front of him.

"We should– uh–" said Mitch, his face turning red.

"Bedroom?" said Auston, and Mitch blushed and nodded furiously.

They kissed all over the hallway, and when they made it to Auston’s room, Auston shut the door with more force than was strictly necessary and kissed Mitch up against it. A little desperately, he put his hands on Mitch’s ass– which, though small, was firm and toned and perfect– and pulled Mitch against him, their bodies flush.

Auston was hard, and he felt that Mitch was hard, and the feeling of it was so phenomenal that Auston focused all his energy into kissing Mitch as hard and as intently as he could.

"Matts," said Mitch again. "Are you– what are we gonna–"

"I– I don’t know, I just– I just want–" Auston said, words not coming easily to him. So instead of talking, he just kissed Mitch again.

"Dude–" said Mitch, breaking away again. "We’ve got to talk about this."

"I– yeah," said Auston, catching his breath. He got another good look at Mitch pinned up against his bedroom door, his cheeks flushed and his hair a disaster.

"Like... I dunno, we should plan this, okay?"

Auston nodded, and Mitch kept talking.

"Like– okay, what were you planning on doing here? Like, we can keep making out, or like, you know," Mitch blushed. "We can do more."

"More is good with me," said Auston, then rushed to add, "if it’s okay with you."

"Dude, are you sure?" asked Mitch, looking serious.

Auston nodded, probably a little too enthusiastically. "I’m sure, I– I’ve been sure. I want to."

"I, uh, me too, but like, it’s just– since when are you into guys?" asked Mitch.

"I don’t know," said Auston. "But, uh, I’m definitely into you."

"Is this just because–"

"No. I mean, I don’t know what you were gonna say there, but it’s not because of anything. It’s just– it’s you," said Auston, and he didn’t know where that came from, but it was the truth.

"You’re not just... curious?" said Mitch. "Because I get that, you’re allowed to just want to experiment, I know people talk shit about that kind of thing, but–"

"It’s not that," said Auston. "I don’t think it is, anyway? But– god, Mitch, I’m really, really into you."

"Like, you think that now, but like, this is sort of a big change," said Mitch.

"No," said Auston, wanting Mitch to understand. "I’ve thought it for a while, okay? And it’s a big change, but god–" he said, not knowing how much was appropriate to reveal right now. "Listen, I understand if you’re nervous, or you don’t want to do like, everything, right away, but you drive me crazy, dude. Your whole–" Auston gestured to indicate Mitch’s entire body. "Seriously."

"This isn’t just because you thought I liked you and you didn’t wanna fuck things up between us?" Mitch said, his voice even and his eyes cast downward.

"I– Mitch, no. That’s not it."

"That’s– I dunno, that’s hard to believe." he said, still not meeting Auston’s eyes.

"Why?" said Auston.

"Because– jesus, Matts, imagine if you were in my shoes right now, alright? Like, I spent so much time convincing myself that you weren’t into me, and now here you are kissing me and saying shit like _that_ and acting like this is something that could possibly happen in my life, and not like, some weird gay indie romcom fairytale shit, alright? This shouldn’t fucking work out this way. I’m supposed to keep myself in check and stop flirting with you eventually, and later on, we laugh about how fucking dumb it was that I had a dumb crush on your just because you’re a hot guy who was okay with having a bi friend." Mitch huffed and crossed his arms.

"Mitch, I–" Auston stepped back and took a seat on his bed. "Listen," he said, "I don’t think there’s anything I can say to convince you that that’s not what’s happening here? But I promise that I just– Mitch, I’ve thought about this. I’ve thought about– god, there’s so much. Like, why do you think I keep switching rooms with Hymie whenever we’re on the road? Or like, why do you think I took a fucking screenshot of that Snap?"

"I– I dunno, to chirp me? Or–" Mitch turned a deep shade of red. "To make fun of me for like, blatantly flirting, when you were clearly never gonna like me back."

"What? God, Mitch, I would never–"

"I didn’t know that," said Mitch. "Listen, I don’t know when a straight buddy of mine is gonna fucking turn on me, okay? I tried not to push, but you just seemed so fucking okay with everything, and I just needed to make sure you were on my side."

"I know," said Auston. "I know, and like, dude, I will always have your back. You’re still like, my best friend here, okay?"

"I would always text Stromer," said Mitch, "and be like, ’do you think it’s crossing a line?’ He kept telling me that like, it was all fine, that if you were weirded out then you weren’t worth it."

"He was probably right," said Auston.

"But you don’t owe it to me to like me," said Mitch, getting frustrated. "That’s not like, part of being my friend. You’re a person too, okay? You should– you should get what you need from someone. And I didn’t know if I was crossing any bro-boundaries, or like, any of your boundaries."

"You weren’t," said Auston. "And– and I kissed you because _I_ had feelings, okay? And I have feelings. Like, major ones, for you."

"I– how?" was all Mitch could ask. He sat down on the bed beside Auston.

Auston shrugged. "You’re– hot? And like, I really like it when you just, are around. Like, when you have your head in my lap, or when we fall asleep in the same bed, and like– when you’re closer to me, things just feel better. I don’t really like touching people, okay? But I really, really like touching you, and I want to do it, like, all the time. And your hockey is fucking ridiculous and you’re so fucking cute, and like, I really just want to make you smile all the time. And that’s some sappy fucking shit right there, alright? I fucking promise–" Auston grabbed Mitch’s hand, because every second he wasn’t touching him felt like agony. Mitch had to fucking understand this. "Look at me," said Auston, and Mitch looked up to meet his eyes. "I’m all in on you, okay? And I have been for a fucking while." He leaned in and pressed a kiss, firm and sure, on Mitch’s lips.

Mitch looked at Auston for a second, his expression indecipherable. "How long?" he asked.

"Like, an embarrassingly long time."

"I wanted to kiss you in that fucking club bathroom," said Mitch, turning away from Auston again. "That was like, two months ago."

"Psh," said Auston, throwing an arm around Mitch, "I wanted to kiss you after that fucking frat party."

"Wait, what the fuck? That was like, way at the beginning of the season."

"Yep," said Auston, a little embarrassed, but more than willing to sit through it if it meant that Mitch was going to finally believe him.

"I came out to you then," said Mitch.

"To be fair, I like, had a big fucking dramatic realization like, hours before you came out to me."

Mitch stared at Auston like he had two heads, but then his face split into an enormous grin. "You– you were fucking pining!"

Auston shrugged, and wanted to fake annoyance, but Mitch was smiling and Auston couldn’t pretend it made him anything but happy to see that. "Fuck off," he mumbled, knowing his expression was dopey.

"Man, you’d better not be fucking with me," said Mitch, standing up from the bed, then turning to straddle Auston.

Auston’s hands traveled instinctively to Mitch’s hips, running just underneath the hem of his shirt. "Pinky swear," he said, holding out a pinky.

Mitch laughed, bright and loud, as he locked pinkies with Auston. "You must be really serious," he said, "pinky swears are binding as fuck."

"Just fucking kiss me," said Auston, and Mitch did, and neither of them could stop smiling.

They fell back onto Auston’s bed and made out for a while longer, but that was as much as they did for the rest of the afternoon; it had been an emotionally draining day, and there was an unspoken agreement that they should probably talk about sex before doing anything more.

"You know– I’d ask to sleep over tonight, but– uh, I should probably go home," said Mitch, after they’d been kissing in Auston’s bed for what felt like only a few minutes, even though when Auston looked at the clock, it was nearly dinnertime, meaning hours had passed. "I mean," Mitch continued, "I should like, see my mom, and she was gonna make dinner and stuff."

"Yeah," said Auston, sighing. "But that means I have to stop kissing you," he faux-pouted.

"You can survive for one evening. But– uh, we should talk about who we’re telling and shit."

"Oh," said Auston. "I’m fine with whoever."

"Seriously?" asked Mitch.

"Yeah," said Auston. "Dude, I’m fucking psyched about this."

"That does kind of involve coming out, though. I mean, even if you don’t– even if you don’t put a label on it. It’s still like, a thing."

"Yeah, that’s true," said Auston, "but– I mean, I don’t want to keep it a big secret, you know?"

"But we can’t tell like, the world," said Mitch. "Like, I’m fine being out to the team and shit, and I had a talk with management– but then like, you’ll probably have to have a talk with management, and it gets to be this whole thing?"

"Yeah, but– I dunno. It’ll be hard keeping it a secret from the guys."

"Yeah," said Mitch, sighing. "Can we just– keep it from getting annoying for a little bit?"

"Whaddya mean?" said Auston.

"I dunno. Like, let’s be honest, I’m probably gonna tell my mom and like, Stromer, if that’s cool? And you can tell a few people. But can we save the team stuff, and the management stuff, for like, later?"

"Listen, man, whatever you want," said Auston.

Mitch’s brow furrowed. "Are you sure?"

"I mean, like, maybe in a bit I’ll have a different view on things. Right now, I’m just happy, okay?" said Auston, kissing Mitch.

"Alright," said Mitch, smiling into the kiss.

* * *

The next day, Auston and Mitch sat out optional skate and just worked out in the gym, citing exhaustion. Mitch was wearing tight shorts and Auston’s fucking t-shirt, and he looked so good as he did pull-ups, the too-large arms falling down to reveal Mitch’s arm muscles, which, though not bulky, were impressive, and definitely did things to mess with Auston’s head. By the end of the whole thing, they were both sweating, and both eying each other up and down. It had taken a lot of effort for Auston to act normal as they changed back into their street clothes in the locker room, and at one point, when they were the only two people in the showers, Auston chanced a long look at Mitch rinsing shampoo out of his hair. He was transfixed by the image, and struck with an overwhelming feeling of gratitude, because his– his something, his Mitch, for sure– was the most beautiful man on Earth.

Mitch finished rinsing the shampoo out of his hair and turned to smile at Auston, and they just stared at each other, their expressions filled with excitement and want, until Mo and Gards walked in, and Auston and Mitch were back to secret glances.

As Auston dried off in the locker room, Mitch walked up to him, and, standing just a bit too close, said "Hey, want a ride home?"

Auston smiled at him. "Yeah, sure, you should come over. We can play COD."

"Aww, want to get your ass kicked, Matts?" said Mitch, the grin on his face the opposite of subtle.

Auston shrugged. "Gotta improve somehow, right?" It was a ridiculously charged conversation, even though they weren’t even speaking in code, just shooting the shit about video games.  

The ride to Auston’s wasn’t any easier, considering Mitch turned on a new playlist, filled with deep, sensual songs that were probably more faux-sexy than actually sexy, but Auston was alone in a car with the boy of his dreams, and the music made him picture close bodies, grinding, hot and sweaty, and he really, really wanted this car ride to be over.

"Man, what even is this fucking playlist?" he asked, opening Mitch’s phone to check the name, which was, apparently, "ultimate seduction™". "Jesus christ, Mitch, you’re so fucking ridiculous."

"It’s working, though, is it not?" said Mitch, humming along to Beyonce.

"It’s not the fucking music," said Auston, "I think I just really want to be in my bedroom, like, now."

Mitch drove a little bit faster the rest of the way to Auston’s.

* * *

When they got there, Auston was slamming the door behind him and pressing Mitch against it. "Fuck, Mitch," he said, "you were wearing my fucking shirt."

"Thought you’d like that," Mitch said, pulling Auston in for a kiss.

"Bed," said Auston. "Can we? I mean–"

"Fuck, yes, I want to see you out of these clothes."

They ran to the bedroom, which was right down the hall, but they couldn’t get there fast enough, and soon, Mitch was pushing Auston back onto the bed and working his hands under his shirt. "Fuck," said Mitch. "Fuck, please, take this off, please," said Mitch, and he sounded _gone_ , like he was desperate for Auston to get out of his clothes, and fast.

Auston pulled his shirt off over his head, and Mitch’s hands were fumbling with the buttons of his pants.

"I can take care of that, babe," said Auston, the word just slipping out, and Mitch flushed at the name.

"Shit," said Mitch.

"You should take off your clothes too," said Auston, and Mitch was in nothing but his black boxer-briefs shockingly quickly.

"Shit," said Auston. "Mitch you’re– man, you’re fucking beautiful."

He was on the edge of the bed, and Mitch was still standing, so Auston grabbed Mitch’s hips and gently pulled him closer. Unthinkingly, he kissed Mitch’s stomach, then slightly lower, and he saw that Mitch was hard, straining against the dark fabric. Auston was hard too, embarrassingly so, considering he hadn’t even been touched yet.

"I want to blow you," said Auston, not realizing how true the words were until he said them out loud.

"I– fuck, Matts, please," said Mitch.

"Here, just– lie down," said Auston.

"Have you ever done this?" asked Mitch.

"No, uh, never given one, but– but you can tell me what feels good, yeah?" said Auston.

"Yeah, of course," said Mitch, lying down on the bed. Auston climbed on top of him, tugging the waistband of Mitch’s underwear down to reveal his cock, which was hard, and fucking leaking, and fuck, it was because of him.

Auston put his mouth on Mitch’s dick, and Mitch groaned. "Fuck," he said, "fuck, Matts, I– holy shit," he said, and Auston looked up to see Mitch’s eyes closed, his head thrown back and his hands above his head. Encouraged, Auston began to move, his hands gently holding onto Mitch’s hips, willing him to keep still for a bit while Auston got used to the feeling of Mitch’s dick inside his mouth.

He went pretty slow, partially for his own comfort, but mostly because he could feel Mitch getting harder inside of him, could even taste the bit of precum as he pulled his lips almost all the way off of Mitch’s dick. Every time he went back down, he tried to go deeper, and he could tell the slow pace was driving Mitch wild. Next time he came up, he licked a little bit at the head of Mitch’s dick, and Mitch seemed to really, really like that.

"Oh my god, fuck," said Mitch. Every noise, every groan, every curse that slipped from Mitch’s mouth made Auston take him even deeper, wanting to see just how good he could make Mitch feel. Auston didn’t know if he’d ever tried this hard at sex before, but right now, he was pouring all his focus into it, determined to make sure Mitch felt fucking incredible.

He brought his hand to Mitch’s dick, the other still on his hip, and Mitch whimpered, high and needy, and Auston wanted to look up, but he didn’t want to stop, and he was gradually speeding up and Mitch was starting to thrust, just a bit, just enough that Auston knew he was getting close to the edge.

"Fuck, fuck, I’m– I’m gonna–" said Mitch, and Auston didn’t let up, he kept going, kept his mouth on him, because he wanted this, he wanted to know what Mitch tasted like, more than anything; he felt his own dick grow harder with the thought of it.

"I’m coming, fuck, Matts, I’m–" and Auston felt something warm and salty hit the back of his throat, and stopped, letting Mitch guide his hand to stroke him through his orgasm.

When Mitch was finished, Auston got up and wiped his mouth. His lips felt a little numb, and his mouth felt used. There was still a salty taste at the back of his throat. There were tears prickling at the corners of his eyes, but not in an unpleasant way, just serving as a reminder that he’d just had Mitch’s dick in his mouth.

He couldn’t stop smiling.

"Holy shit," said Mitch, sounding like he’d just gotten the wind knocked out of him. "Holy shit, how– shit."

"Hey," said Auston, and he crawled up to Mitch and lay down next to him, playing with his hair and shamelessly admiring him.

"Holy shit," was all Mitch could say, and Auston laughed, letting Mitch catch his breath for a few more minutes.

"So, uh, was that good for you?" said Auston playfully, once Mitch’s breath evened out.

"Was it– fuck, Matts, are you sure you’ve never done that before?" said Mitch, sounding a little awed, and Auston thought that voice might have been the most beautiful thing he’d ever heard.

"Uh, yeah, pretty sure, man," he said.

"Man, you’re just– you’re just good at everything, aren’t you," said Mitch.

Auston blushed. "You liked it?"

"Dude, I clearly did," said Mitch, gesturing towards his dick.

"I mean– I dunno," said Auston.

"Like, jeez, Auston, you’re fucking incredible," said Mitch, and leaned in to kiss Auston’s cheek. "Man, Auston Matthews just sucked my dick."

"Yep," said Auston, momentarily distracted by Mitch’s eyes.

"Hey," said Mitch, turning to face him, "can I– uh, you know."

Auston raised an eyebrow. "I don’t know," he said, because really, his mouth still tasted like Mitch’s come, the least Mitch could do was use his words.

"I wanna get you off," said Mitch. "I wanna– I wanna touch you."

"I– shit, yeah, Mitch, yeah, please."

Auston stood up and took off his underwear, and Mitch arranged their bodies, so that Auston was on his side, more or less being spooned by Mitch. One of Mitch’s hands drifted downwards, sliding over Auston’s entire torso until it landed on his dick, and Auston felt himself get harder at the touch.

"Fuck," said Auston.

"You like that," said Mitch, sounding a little surprised and very pleased.

Auston was at a temporary loss for words, and all he could do was nod.

"I– fuck, Auston, you felt so good before," said Mitch. "You felt so fucking good, god, I just– I didn’t know it could even be that good, you know?"

"You–" Auston’s sentence was interrupted by Mitch squeezing a little tighter, and that felt really good. "You should always feel that good, Mitch."

" _You_ should always feel that good," Mitch said back, sounding a little playful, but also honest.

"I– fuck, lube, bedside drawer," said Auston. "You should–"

"Yeah, god, yeah, one second–" Mitch didn’t fully leave Auston’s side, but he took his hand off Auston’s dick to grab the lube, and Auston had to bite his lip to keep himself from whimpering at the loss.

"Here, here, one second–" Mitch had to extract himself from Auston entirely, and Auston did make a noise of protest at that, but Mitch was back soon enough, and this time, when he touched Auston, it felt wet and warm and holy shit, it was good.

"Auston," whispered Mitch, his voice clear and unmistakable in Auston’s ear, and Auston thrust into his hand. "God, I almost– I’ve wanted to jerk you off so many times," he said. "I would have done anything if it meant I could just get my hands on you."

"Mitch," said Auston, and he knew he sounded wrecked, heard it in his own voice, but he couldn’t care, not with Mitch making him feel so warm and comfortable and good. "I wanted you to, I wanted– god, I wanted you to back in Michigan, when your hand was–"

"Fuck," said Mitch, hissing. "I thought you would think it was weird, I didn’t even know back then–" he said, and he sped up, and Auston moaned, because he could, and because he needed to. "I didn’t even realize how fucking wild you drove me back then," said Mitch. "I don’t fucking know how I didn’t know, I just wanted to touch you."

Auston couldn’t speak anymore, because his mind was just a whirlwind of moans and groans and the feeling of Mitch’s hand on his dick and the sound of his voice in his ear, and before Auston expected to, he was coming, all over Mitch’s hand, shivering into it a little.

"Auston," said Mitch. "Holy crap."

"Dude," was all Auston said.

"I– I don’t wanna get up, dude, but my hand is kind of–" Mitch waggled his fingers to indicate that, yeah, they were covered in Auston’s come.

Auston laughed. "Do what you gotta do, man. I’ll be here."

Mitch crinkled his nose. "That’s fucking gross."

Auston only shrugged, and Mitch ran to the bathroom. When he came back, he had a damp washcloth.

"Because you’re all sticky, and I really want to cuddle," said Mitch, and so Auston let Mitch clean him up, feeling warm and satisfied the entire time.

"Thanks," Auston said, when Mitch was all done, and Mitch laughed.

"What are friends for?" he responded, smiling at Auston, who was smiling right back.

It was probably excessively sappy that they were literally staring into each others eyes, but Auston couldn’t help it. He was just so happy.

They lay there in silence, Mitch’s arm resting on Auston’s shoulder, and Auston curling up onto Mitch.

"Hey," said Mitch, "I still haven’t told Stromer."

"Why not?" said Auston, wondering if Strome would approve.

"I dunno, didn’t get around to it. Can we send him a selfie?" asked Mitch.

Auston was a little taken aback. "That doesn’t seem like the safest idea."

"What if I put on a shirt and sent him a picture of you kissing my cheek?" said Mitch, and that idea was too cute for Auston to resist.

"Fine, you don’t have to put on a shirt, but Snapchat only," compromised Auston.

"Deal," said Mitch, holding out his hand to shake.

Auston took it, and when Mitch has the camera positioned obediently pressed his lips to Mitch’s cheek as Mitch made a goofy face. Mitch thought for a second before he captioned it i _s he gonna score four times tonight? #dicktrick_. Auston made a face, and immediately tried to grab the phone from Mitch as Mitch laughed.

"Dude," he said, "you have to let me, please."

"You’re the worst, and no, I’m not going to let you."

"Well," said Mitch, hopping off the bed and to the other side of the room, "too late, I’m sending it."

"I fucking hate you," said Auston, standing up to join him.

"No you don’t," said Mitch smugly.

Auston smiled. "You’re lucky you’re cute," he said.

"Aww, you think I’m cute?" Mitch said, smiling.

"Maybe," said Auston, leaning in to kiss him. Their brief makeout session, though, was interrupted by both their phones vibrating simultaneously. Mitch looked down to see what was on his, and Auston walked across the room to check as well.

"It’s Stromer," said Mitch. "Apparently we’re in a group chat now."

Sure enough, Auston had the same notification from Strome. He opened the message.

_dylstrome19: omfg is this 4 real_

_marner_93: y e p_

_dylstrome19: amattz confirm?_

_auston_matthews: lol yeah_

_marner_93: hey ur not laughing out loud right now_

Auston looked up, and stuck his tongue out at Mitch. Mitch, in retaliation, held up his phone and said "Hey, smile!" And Auston ducked his head, but couldn’t help smiling, because he was with Mitch.

"Delete that," he said, "I bet it’s crap."

"Aw, no, it’s–" in lieu of saying anything, Mitch held up his phone to show Auston the picture.

Auston looked at himself in the picture, and he just looked– so _happy._

"I really like it," said Mitch, quietly. "If you’re gonna make me delete it, can I at least save it?"

"No," said Auston, "uh, save it, and send it."

Mitch grinned bashfully, and added a few heart stickers before he sent it off.

Within a few minutes, there was a response.

_dylstrome19: that’s disgusting._

_dylstrome19: bet u me n my bf are cuterrrrr_

_marner_93: u wanna fuckin go?_

The next response was a photo of Dylan and some guy with blonde hair, tucked against his chest. Auston thought he looked familiar, but the photo disappeared before he got a chance to figure out who it was.

The mystery was solved in the next message.

_dylstrome19: thats davo btw_

_marner_93: fuckin called it!!!_

_dylstrome19: wtf how_

_dylstrome19: also can i tell him about u 2_

_dylstrome19: i wanna double date_

Mitch turned to Auston. "Well?" he said.

"Yeah, sure," said Auston.

_marner_93: yeah that’s chill_

**_dylstrome19 added mcdavid97 to the chat_ **

_mcdavid97: wassup_

_auston_matthews: yo_

_marner_93: hey_

_marner_93: dude u 2 r gonna get rekt_

_dylstrome19: in what_

_dylstrome19: gay hockey chel tourney?_

_mcdavid97: lol im in_

**_mcdavid97 changed the name to "gay hockey chel tourney"_ **

_auston_matthews: lol_

_marner_93: ill kick all ur asses_

_marner_93: even if matts sucks_

"Hey," said Auston, "not cool."

"You’re good enough at real hockey," said Mitch.

"So are you," said Auston. "We both are. It’s our job."

_dylstrome19: wow tmi guys, keep it in the bedroom eh_

_auston_matthews: "eh"_

_dylstrome19: be more american_

_mcdavid97: hey dyl u wanna turn ur phone off and pay attention to me?_

Connor followed it up with a picture of Strome staring at his phone, which he clearly didn’t know was being taken. Strome responded with a blurry picture of Connor, captioned "i feel attacked."

The conversation felt over, so Auston locked his phone. Mitch followed suit.

"You knew it was McDavid?" asked Auston.

"Yeah, he like, asked me about it before he, I dunno, began to woo him."

Auston snorted at that. "Woo?"

"Yeah, Davo’s ridiculous, but at least they’re happy." Mitch looked at Auston and smiled. "And so are we."

"Yep," said Auston, too contented to think of a snappy comeback. "Hey, let’s lie down for a bit," said Auston, the workout and sex finally catching up to him. "I’m exhausted."

And so Auston drifted off, with Mitch leaning on his chest, a comfortable, warm weight.

* * *

 

A few hours later, Auston’s eyes drifted open, and Mitch was no longer on him. But he was still naked, and a quick scan of the room revealed that Mitch was still around, as evidenced by his clothing on the floor.

As if on cue, Mitch walked in, wearing a t-shirt and boxers of Auston’s. "Oh, shit, did I wake you up?" he said. "I’m sorry man."

"No, you’re good," said Auston, feeling sleepy. "You’re wearing my stuff."

"I– uh, yeah, is that okay?"

Auston smiled, feeling impossibly fond. "Of course," he said. "You look so good."

Mitch smiled back at him, and walked over to the bed. "It’s almost dinnertime," he said. "My mom wanted to know if I’d be home."

"Oh," said Auston. "If you need to, go, that’s fine."

"Uh, no, she was wondering if you wanted to come over."

"Oh," said Auston. "Did you tell her?"

"Uh," said Mitch, "kind of?"

"How did you ’kind of’ tell her?" asked Auston.

"I mean, I dunno, we haven’t– like, we don’t actually have a word," said Mitch.

"A word?" said Auston.

"Yeah, like– like are we dating, or is it just a thing, or are we not doing labels, or like, what?"

"Oh," said Auston. "So what did you say?"

"I just kind of went, ’Hey mom, so you know, uh, Auston’s my– I mean, Auston and I are–’ and she sort of figured it out from there"

"Oh," said Auston again. "Um. What word do you want?" It wasn’t the most coherent sentence he’d ever spoken, but he was still half-asleep.

"I– uh, what do you want?"

"Well, we’re dating," said Auston, "right?"

"Yeah," said Mitch.

"And we’re like... exclusive?" said Auston.

"Yep, if that’s– that’s what I want," said Mitch.

"Me too. So like. Dating? Boyfriends?" asked Auston.

"Boyfriends," said Mitch, exploring the word. "Auston Matthews is my boyfriend."

"Yep. And Mitch Marner is my boyfriend," said Auston, feeling a little more awake. "That work?"

"Yeah," said Mitch. "That works." He smiled wide at Auston. "So, uh, dinner?"

* * *

 

Dinner was nice, even though Auston was a little intimidated. He’d met Mitch’s parents before, but it was one thing to meet them as a teammate, and another to meet them as Mitch’s boyfriend.

She was pleasant, though, and didn’t seem to be trying to interrogate Auston or anything. They talked about Toronto, and Arizona, and family pets, and how much Auston missed his. The Marner dogs were at least near Toronto, and Mitch could visit them.

"You should meet them," said Mitch, and Auston pictured Mitch playing with dogs for a second. It was a really nice image, and Auston smiled for the rest of the meal.

After they exchanged pleasantries and Mrs. Marner insisted that the dishes were fine and practically shooed them out of the kitchen, they retreated to Mitch’s room.

"So," said Auston, "how did I do?"

"What do you mean?" asked Mitch.

Auston shrugged. "I dunno, meeting the family."

Mitch blinked at him, and then laughed a little bit. "Dude," he said, "my mom loves you, you’re fine."

"Yeah?" said Auston.

"You brought up the dogs, man, you’re fine."

"Are you sure?" asked Auston.

"Yep," said Mitch confidently. "She’s probably searching your Insta right now for dog pics."

"Jeez, she’s hip," said Auston.’

"Only way she could have such a cool son," responded Mitch.

Auston opened his mouth to respond, except Mitch chose that exact moment to kiss him, and whatever Auston was going to say felt a lot less relevant.

"Man," said Mitch, pulling away from Auston, much to his chagrin, "I can just kiss you, whenever I want."

Auston laughed at that. "Yep," he said. It was an incredibly obvious observation, but Auston knew what Mitch was getting at; the feeling of wanting something for so long, and then getting it, and it somehow living up to all your expectations, was so unmatched. It felt better than being drafted first overall, and scoring four goals in his NHL debut, because there was no pressure in this. Mitch didn’t expect anything from him that Auston wasn’t sure he could give, and in return, he got to be with someone who made him wonderfully, spectacularly happy.

So he leaned down and kissed Mitch, because he could.

They kept on kissing on Mitch’s bed, where Mitch began to pull at the neck of Auston’s shirt and kiss his neck, and Auston _really_ liked that. He had to stifle a groan, remembering that Mitch’s mom was just down the hall.

Mitch seemed to read his mind. "I don’t think she can hear us," he said, "but we should– I mean, if we do anything, we should be quiet."

"Got it," said Auston.

Mitch went back to work kissing Auston’s neck, and began to suck a hickey there. Auston relished the feeling of Mitch on his neck, leaving a huge, dark bruise that made Auston feel marked, like he was undeniably Mitch’s.

Eventually, Mitch drifted downwards, kissing a trail over Auston’s t-shirt before arriving at the waistband of his pants.

"Can I?" he asked, and Auston nodded enthusiastically, knowing that if he opened his mouth, he’d let out some sort of obscene noise.

Mitch smiled, and got up off of Auston, which Auston didn’t like, but then he realized they were repositioning, and moved until he was sitting on the edge of the bed, Mitch on his knees in front of him, and his pants and underwear tugged down only just enough to expose the head of his cock in front of Mitch’s mouth.

When Mitch began to suck his dick, he let out a small whimper before biting his lip to keep quiet. Mitch had a confidence that Auston probably hadn’t had earlier, like he was showing off, just a little, and yeah, Auston could admit that Mitch was much, much better at sucking dick than he was, and he would never complain.

"You know," Auston said, his voice breathy despite his desperate attempts to keep it even, "you’re really–" his breath hitched. "You’re really good at this."

He made the mistake of looking down at Mitch, who was a sight to be seen: his lips were spread wide around Auston’s cock, and his cheeks were red. His hair was a disaster, and on his face there was an expression of such intent, such focus, and Auston felt almost dizzy with how attractive it was. He was already inside Mitch, but nothing felt like enough, he wanted more and more and more of it and then–

And then Mitch brought his hand up, and had only stroked him a couple of times before Auston knew he was about to come.

"Mitch–" he half-whispered, "I’m close, I’m–"

Mitch, because he was the worst and best person Auston had ever met, smiled around his dick, and jerked him a little harder, a little faster, and soon Auston was coming in Mitch’s mouth as Mitch slowly and carefully finished him off, his lips relaxing around Auston until he was done.

"You’re the most amazing person who’s ever blown me," said Auston, reeling from how hard he’d come.

Mitch smiled. "Aw, shucks, you," and Auston knew Mitch was being playful, but he was too blown away to be witty right now.

"I’m serious. That was like, jesus, I should be embarrassed by how fast that was."

Mitch blushed. "No, don’t be, I– it was good for me too."

"Yeah?" said Auston, smiling.

"Yep," said Mitch, leaning up to kiss him. Auston turned away from it, because Mitch had literally just finished going down on him, but Mitch laughed, and kept trying.

"You’re gross," said Auston, laughing as Mitch peppered his face with kisses in an attempt to land one on his mouth.

"Yep," said Mitch, "but I’m going to brush my teeth."

"Alright," said Auston.

Mitch disappeared into the bathroom for a few minutes, and when he came back, he planted a big, sloppy kiss, smack in the middle of Auston’s mouth.

"Mmm, that’s better," said Auston.

"Yeah," said Mitch. "Uh, hey, do you think you could stay the night?"

Auston thought about it. "My stuff is at my place," he said.

"Right," said Mitch. "I mean– you’re allowed to say no, but, uh, I could lend you pajamas and stuff."

"Are you sure?" said Auston.

"Yeah, I mean, unless you don’t want to and you’re just using that as an excuse. It’s cool if you don’t want to! It’s just that my mom says it’s cool or whatever, but like, no pressure, it would just be– I dunno, fun."

"Okay," said Auston, "Yeah, sure."

"Awesome," said Mitch, and the smile on his face was everything Auston could hope for.

* * *

 

In retrospect, letting Mitch give him a huge hickey might not have been the best idea.

"Shit," said James the next day at morning skate, "is that a hickey, or were you like, mauled?"

Auston only shrugged, and stole a glance at Mitch, who was biting his lip and definitely enjoying this.

"Who has a hickey?" Mo asked as he walked in, before he turned to look at Auston. "Oh, shit, get it, Matts!"

"Shut up," said Auston, smiling and looking down.

"You went out and picked up the night before a game? I thought you were staying in," said Willy.

"Oh, I, uh, I don’t know," said Auston. “I didn’t, uh, go out?”

“So it was just like, a booty call?” James asked.

“No, not– not a booty call,” said Auston, not wanting to lie when Mitch was right there.

“So what? You’re dating someone?” said James.

Auston only shrugged, but felt himself smiling.

“You’re so dating someone!” said Mo. “That’s the face of someone who’s dating someone!”

“What does that even mean?” asked Willy.

“Like, all coy and smiley and shit,” said Mo emphatically.

“Are you gonna give us the deets, man?” asked James. “You gotta give us deets.”

“I’m not having this conversation right now,” said Auston, still smiling.

"Mitch, did you know about this?" Mo asked, and Auston nearly snorted

Mitch just smiled and said "Matts doesn’t kiss and tell, boys."

"Exactly, yeah, that," said Auston.

"Whatever you say, man," said James. “We’ll get the deets eventually.” With that, the topic was dropped, much to Auston’s relief.

Willy gave Auston a look, then quickly glanced at Mitch before raising an eyebrow at him. Auston shrugged again, then looked over to where Mitch was now talking to Marty. He found himself smiling, and he looked back at Willy, whose eyebrow remained firmly raised.

Thankfully, they finished suiting up quickly, because Auston really didn’t want to have another confrontation about it. As they made their way to the ice, Mitch fell in step with him.

"I’d say I’m sorry, but I’m really not," said Mitch, smiling.

"Don’t be," Auston responded. "It might be funny to let them figure it out themselves."

"They wouldn’t," said Mitch.

"How do you know?" asked Auston.

"They think you’re straight, man. They would never guess," Mitch said, sounding confident. "They could see you sucking my dick and think it was just buddies."

"Well, what if we like, made them?"

"Just– what, didn’t tell them?" asked Mitch.

Auston shrugged. "It could be fun," he said, "and I kind of want to mess with their heads."

"Man, that’s fucked up," said Mitch, but he was smiling.

"I mean– what if we didn’t tell them, but we didn’t... not tell them?" said Auston.

"You’re just lazy," said Mitch.

"It would be funny, though," said Auston, and Mitch seemed to concede that point.

"So what, you’re just gonna start, like, making out with me in the middle of the locker room, and hope they catch on?" asked Mitch.

"No, but I will–" Auston slapped Mitch on the ass, and Mitch scoffed at it.

"Rude," he said, and Auston smiled at him.

* * *

 

All practice, Auston couldn’t help but stare at Mitch as he skated around, looking mesmerizing and loose. He was so entranced by his boyfriend’s skating that he didn’t notice when Willy skated up next to him.

"So," Willy said, and Auston startled a bit.

"Dude," said Auston, "what the fuck."

"I wasn’t being sneaky, man," said Willy. "You distracted by something?"

It didn’t seem quite like a question, and Auston kind of felt like he’d been caught. Instead of saying anything, he just shrugged.

"Anything to do with that hickey?" asked Willy, definitely smiling

Auston felt himself smile back as he shrugged again in response. "Maybe," he said.

"Right," said Willy. "Maybe. Well, if you decide to talk about whoever you’re mooning over, I’ll be right here," said Willy, but Auston could barely make out the words, because Mitch was stretching, and it was silly and sexy all at once.

"Hm? Yeah," said Auston, and he absently skated over to Mitch. Realizing that must have seemed rude, he turned around to look at Willy, and saw that he was smirking widely.

"You’re awful," Auston whispered at Mitch as he skated past.

"Yeah," said Mitch, looking downright impish. "You’re a little obsessed with me though.”

"Maybe," said Auston.

* * *

 

They lost that night, and it fucking stung.

Auston didn’t know why it hit him so hard. A part of him blamed himself for losing focus, wondering if he’d missed some important ritual by staying with Mitch, but he knew that was absurd. They hadn’t played well, and they’d faced the consequences, and they’d let in goal after goal as they just kept trying and failing to charge the net.

He didn’t know whether Mitch wanted to hang out that night or not– they had a flight the next day– but it turned out, he didn’t have a choice, because Mo and Gards more or less cornered him and insisted that the three of them go out. Across the locker room, Auston saw Mitch talking to Marty and Naz, and thought idly that the same thing was happening to him.

He really wasn’t in the mood for a bar, and he really, really wasn’t in the mood to deal with his overinvolved teammates, but he played along, because he was too tired to fight back.

After reassuring them that he would go out with them, he walked over to Mitch.

"What’s even happening?" asked Auston, and Mitch didn’t meet his eyes.

"I don’t know," said Mitch. "Do you think that they like, know?"

"Who fucking knows?" Auston said. "I just– I don’t know. I don’t want this right now, and like– like, you don’t either, you know?"

"They’re our team," was all Mitch said in response.

"Yeah, but like, we don’t owe them this, you know?"

"I guess," said Mitch.

"Are you alright?" asked Auston, because Mitch wasn’t smiling, and he didn’t like that at all.

Mitch shrugged. "Bummed about the loss, I guess."

"I wish we could just– chill, you know?"

"What do you mean?" said Mitch, looking up

"Like– I dunno, watch Netflix and chill at yours," said Auston.

Mitch smiled a little bit. "Netflix and chill?"

"You know what I mean," said Auston, feeling his anger lessen at the sight of Mitch’s smile. "It’s like– being interrogated by the team won’t be helpful, you know?

"Yeah, I know," said Mitch. "Do you wanna hang out when we’re done with them?"

"Please," said Auston. "Come over?"

"For sure," said Mitch, and Auston squeezed his hand once before he went to meet up with Mo and Gards.

* * *

 

"Uh, so," said Mo, "we don’t want to like, pry or anything, and we’re not– we’re not here to ask questions, alright?"

"Sure," said Auston, not believing it for a second.

"It’s just– Mitch has been acting weird around you lately, yeah? And we’re not trying to jump to any conclusions, but we’ve talked to some of the other guys about it–" Mo started.

"And we think you might be– leading Mitch on?" said Gards.

Auston blinked. "I– I have no clue what to say to that."

"Like, we don’t think you’re doing it on purpose, but we just– we don’t want you guys to end up in a weird situation, you know?" said Mo.

"I really have no clue what to say to that," Auston said again. "We’re– like– Mitch and I are fine." His phone buzzed in his pocket, and he peeked at it.

_Mitch: naz n marty just said they think ur dating someone_

_Mitch: they asked me how i feel about it_

_Mitch: i told them i was happy 4 u_

_Mitch: they think im jealous of ur new gf_

_Mitch: is this funny or awful_

"One sec," said Auston, and he shot Mitch a quick text.

_Auston: m+g think im leading u on_

_Auston: fuck it can we just tell them_

"It’s not like you’re being mean, or whatever," said Mo, "but you’re dating someone, right?"

Auston nodded, and kept looking down at his phone for a response from Mitch.

"So you should be, you know, careful about how you act around Mitch."

"Jesus," said Auston.

"Hey, listen, we’re not trying to like, tell you what to do, alright?" said Gards, and Auston could tell that he honestly, truly thought he was helping.

"Listen," said Auston, "I know– Mitch and I are fine, and I can’t– we’re fine, I promise, and like, I get that you’re worried, but we’re really, really fine."

"Okay," said Mo, "are you actually sure?"

Auston felt his phone buzz again, and saw a thumbs-up emoji from Mitch. He smiled at it. "Totally," he said. "Can I just– I don’t wanna be rude, but I want to answer this."

"Is that your girl?" asked Mo.

"Uh, something like that," said Auston, texting Mitch.

_Auston: imma fuck w/ them for a few min first_

_Mitch: lol of course u r_

"Where’d you meet her, anyway?" said Mo. "You don’t really date."

"You know, around," said Auston noncommittally. "We’ve been flirting for a while."

"How long have you guys been together?" asked Mo.

"Not super long, but– I dunno. We’re like, pretty serious."

"How serious?" asked Mo.

"Uh, met the parents last night?" said Auston.

"Nice," said Mo, going for a high five.

"Will we see her in the WAGs section soon, then?" asked Gards.

Auston laughed. "Nope," he said.

"What, she doesn’t like hockey?" said Gards.

"Uh, hockey player, actually," said Auston. “Loves the game more than anyone I know.”

“High praise,” said Mo.

"But like, she can’t be on the ice with us during games," said Gards.

Auston shrugged at that, and his phone buzzed again.

_Mitch: "u cant keep texting matts like hes ur bf" -naz_

_Mitch: just told him im actually texting my bf let’s see if he realizes_

_Mitch: nope he saw i was txting u n told me 2 stop fucking w/ him_

_Auston: perf_

"Hey," said Gards, "why did Naz tell me to tell you to stop texting Mitch?"

"Probably because you guys talk about us behind our backs too much," responded Auston.

"I thought you were texting your girlfriend," said Mo, his brow furrowing.

Auston smiled. “Well,” he said, shrugging again, and he knew he was being a little shit, but honestly, they deserved it.

Suddenly, a look of realization crossed over Gards’ face. "Wait, are you and Mitch–" his eyes went wide.

Auston smiled wider, and ducked his head for a second before nodding.

"Holy shit," said Mo. "Holy– wait, oh my god."

"Yeah," said Auston, and he shot another text off to Mitch.

_Auston: just dropped the big reveal_

_Mitch: same jinx_

_Auston: wtf u cant jinx over text_

_Mitch: yah u owe me a soda_

He rolled his eyes at Mitch, then put his phone away for real and looked up at Mo and Gards, who were staring at him with disbelief and confusion in their eyes.

"You’re not– you two are dating," said Mo. "You and Mitch. You’re dating each other."

"Yep," said Auston.

"And it’s– like, you’re for real dating? Not just– you know– oh my gosh. You and Mitch. You’re like my children," bemoaned Mo.

"You’re like, three years older than us," Auston said.

"Shush, don’t disrespect Mo’s dad status like that," sad Gards. "But like– for real, you and Mitch? How long has this been in the works?"

"It’s been a bit. I don’t know. We’re happy."

"But you’re not– you don’t date guys," said Mo.

"I’m dating... a guy?" said Auston. "I don’t know. I’m working on that stuff, but I like, definitely like Mitch."

"Well, I feel dumb," said Gards.

"Eh, it’s alright, you didn’t know."

"We didn’t, like, make you tell us before you wanted to?" said Mo, looking worried.

"I mean– like, a couple of people know. We were gonna tell you guys eventually. Just hadn’t figured out how to," said Auston.

"I don’t even know who to give a shovel talk to," said Mo. "You’re serious about him though, right?"

"Yeah," said Auston. "Trust me, I want his heart broken less than you do."

"Aw," said Gards, "Matts is smitten."

"Fuck off," said Auston, smiling as he took a sip of beer.

His phone buzzed one more time, and he glanced at it.

_Marty: mitch just told me, congrats! also, hurt him and i’ll deck you, no hesitations_

_Marty: told him the same thing. he agreed_

_Marty: naz sends his congratulations_

As far as Auston was concerned, it couldn’t have gone better

* * *

 

"Naz says he called it," said Mitch, later that night in Auston’s bed.

"Bullshit," said Auston. "Naz doesn’t know shit."

"I don’t know," said Mitch, "he said he thought you had like, incredibly repressed feelings for me for months."

"He was wrong," said Auston. "They were hardly repressed at all."

Mitch laughed at that. "Whatever you say, man. I’m just glad we can chill now."

"Yeah," said Auston. "This is good. I like this."

"What?" asked Mitch.

"I don’t know. Dating you, or whatever."

"Romantic," said Mitch.

"I mean– I don’t know. You’re cute. I’m happy."

"You’re so fucking lame, man," said Mitch, leaning in to kiss him.

Kissing turned into making out, which led to them taking off their shirts, and Mitch’s fingers ghosting over the hickey on Auston’s neck.

"I really liked seeing this on you," said Mitch. "I– fuck," he said, as Auston bit into his neck.

"I can give you one too," said Auston.

"Please," said Mitch, and Auston set to work, listening to the way Mitch moaned every time Auston scraped his teeth along Mitch’s skin, or the way he whined when Auston went just a little bit harder.

"Fuck, fuck–" said Mitch. "Fuck, can you– fuck, I want you–" Mitch was cut off again by his own moan.

"What do you want?" said Auston. "I’ll–"

"I want you to– fuck, I want you inside me," said Mitch.

"Do you– are you sure?" asked Auston, really into the idea, but not wanting to push Mitch’s boundaries.

"Yeah," said Mitch, "I– fuck, have you ever fingered–"

"I– fuck," said Auston. "Not– I mean, myself, but never someone else."

"Do you want to–"

"Yes, god, Mitch," said Auston. "I– fuck. Let me get the lube."

Auston went to retrieve the lube from the bedside table, and took off the rest of his clothes. Mitch followed suit before lying on his stomach on the bed. Auston grabbed a pillow and placed it under his hips.

"Okay, uh, I’m just gonna start out with one, alright?" said Auston, and Mitch nodded. Auston lubed up his finger and placed it at the entrance to Mitch’s hole and when he pushed in, Mitch groaned, and Auston thought he’d never heard a more beautiful sound in his life.

"Holy shit," said Auston.

"I– I really like this," said Mitch. "I– oh my god," he said, as Auston twisted his finger around experimentally. Slowly, he began to pull out his finger, and Mitch seemed to really enjoy it.

He went slow for a few minutes, and then sped up a bit, and Mitch kept making noises that Auston didn’t even know were possible.

"Fuck, another," said Mitch. "Please, I– ohmygod," he said, as Auston gave him another.

"Does that feel good?" said Auston.

"Yes, fuck, that feels so fucking good, I fucking– holy shit."

"I love making you feel good," said Auston, and Mitch made a choked sound.

" _Fuck_ ," he said, and he sounded _wrecked_.

"Want another one?" said Auston, and Mitch nodded vigorously, but Auston decided to tease a bit. "Tell me, then," said Auston.

"Fucking– fuck, yes, three, I want– please, please," said Mitch, and he was practically begging.

Auston obeyed, and then he must have hit something good, because Mitch lost it at the next thrust.

"Fuck, yes, right there, right– fuck, Auston, will you–"

"Ask me, babe," said Auston. "I’ll do it if you ask."

"Fuck– me. Fuck me, fuck, please, god, just fuck me."

"Yes," said Auston. "I– fuck, one second, okay?"

Mitch nodded, and Auston grabbed a condom from the bedside table, then lubed up. "I’ve never–" said Auston. "You’ve gotta tell me if I’m going too fast, alright?"

"Got it," said Mitch. "Just– please."

"Of course," said Auston, and he lined himself up and began to push, very, very slowly.

"Yes, that’s– that’s good, that feels good," said Mitch.

"Holy fuck," said Auston, and it was apparently his turn to be incoherent. "Holy– oh my god, you’re so–" it was warm, and tight, and it felt unbelievable. It was slow, and intense, and every feeling in his body was magnified a hundred times.

"You’re good, you can– fuck, you’re so deep," said Mitch. "You can– a little faster?"

"I– yeah, fuck holy–" Auston settled into a steady rhythm, and it wasn’t hard or fast, but it felt so good, to be surrounded by Mitch, to be _fucking_ Mitch, and he felt like he was on fire. It was so much, and he wasn’t going to last long like this.

"Shit, Mitch, I’m close," said Auston.

"Fuck," said Mitch. "I’m– I wanna– I’m–" Mitch just grabbed his dick and began to stroke it frantically, and Auston groaned at the sight of Mitch touching himself. It wasn’t long before he realized he couldn’t hold off anymore.

"I’m gonna come," said Auston, "I’m– fuck," he said, as he felt himself finish.

A few seconds later, Mitch was coming too, all over his hand and stomach and Auston’s sheets.

Auston pulled out carefully, per Mitch’s instructions, and when he was done, he turned to look at Mitch, who was still lying on his stomach, panting.

"Shit," said Mitch. "I– oh my gosh."

"Yeah," said Auston, and his head was buzzing.

"You just– fuck, I’m so gross," said Mitch. "Oh fuck, your bed, I’m sorry–"

Auston just laughed. "Don’t worry about it," he said. "It’s– that was so good," he said.

"Yeah?" said Mitch. "I wasn’t too– I dunno. Demanding, or whatever?"

"You were perfect," said Auston, leaning in to kiss him. "I’m gonna grab a towel, alright?"

"Then we can cuddle?" said Mitch.

"We can cuddle, and like, probably sleep," said Auston.

"Yeah," said Mitch.

Auston left, and when he returned, Mitch was on his phone, lying on his back.

"Let me–" said Auston, as he began to clean Mitch up, and Mitch flushed.

They remade the bed after that, which turned into a bit of a pillow fight, and Auston chased Mitch around the room, until eventually tackling him onto the bed, which turned into more making out, and Auston just– he’d never imagined things being this much fun, somehow, and he loved every second of it so, so much.

"We should shower," said Mitch, a bit breathless underneath Auston.

"Yeah," Auston replied. "Together?"

"It would save water," Mitch pointed out.

"It’s really all for the environment," said Auston, grabbing two towels and leading Mitch to the bathroom.

When they got there, Auston turned on the water, and they both climbed into the shower, huddling together so they could both catch some of the spray.

"You’re so big, you’re blocking all the water," complained Mitch.

"That doesn’t even make sense," said Auston.

"You don’t make sense. Move," said Mitch, and Auston stepped out of the way as Mitch ran his hair under the water.

"Can I wash your hair for you?" said Auston, not sure where the thought came from.

Mitch blinked, then shrugged and nodded, and Auston grabbed the shampoo and lathered up.

"Just– stand here," said Auston, and he began to massage the shampoo into Mitch’s hair.

"Oh my god," said Mitch, "this might be better than sex. And I really like sex."

Auston only hummed and continued to work his hands through Mitch’s hair, and thoroughly enjoyed the view he got of Mitch rinsing it out.

"I’d offer to do you, but you’re too fucking tall," said Mitch.

"It’s fine," said Auston.

"But I can–" said Mitch, grabbing the bar of soap, "take care of the rest of you?"

Auston smiled at him, and let Mitch lather him up. Mitch went carefully, like he was cataloguing every part of Auston’s body, making sure he touched every part of him, and Auston remembered fantasizing about showering with Mitch, and for all he’d pictured it, he had never imagined it being so intimate. He hadn’t imagined that he’d be left so overwhelmed by Mitch’s affection. But Mitch was there, steadily running his soapy hands up and down Auston’s back, and Auston couldn’t have been happier.

They rinsed off, and then they dried off, and soon, they were falling asleep together, on clean sheets, Mitch’s arms holding Auston close.

* * *

 

The next day, as they waited for their flight to Dallas to take off, Willy took the seat beside Mitch and Auston’s on the plane.

"Gards is being weird about you two, and Hyman’s trying to figure out why," Willy said, in lieu of a greeting.

"What do you mean by weird?" Mitch asked.

"I dunno, got all cagey when Hyman asked him where you guys were."

"Weird," said Auston.

"Sure is,” he said, before he turned his attention to Mitch. “Hey, isn’t that Auston’s scarf?"

Auston looked at Mitch, and sure enough, he _was_ wearing Auston’s scarf. He’d probably grabbed off the floor in their rushed attempt to get ready.

"Uh," said Mitch, turning red. "Maybe? I don’t know. It’s a scarf." He turned to Auston, then back to Willy, trying to come up with an explanation. Auston just shrugged, then put his hand over Mitch’s.

"Also, we’re dating," Auston added.

"Yeah, that too," said Mitch.

"You’re– oh," said Willy. "Like, dating? And not just– I dunno, fooling around?"

"Well, that too," said Mitch, and Auston elbowed him.

"Fuck off," said Auston, and Mitch stuck his tongue out at him.

"You’re so cute," Willy said dryly.

"Yep," sad Mitch, leaning against Auston, who, in return, put his arm around him.

The rest of the guys filed onto the plane and into their seats, with Brownie sitting next to Willy, James and Mo taking the seats in front of Auston, and Bozie and Naz taking the seats behind them. Mo and Naz said their greetings and averted their eyes, though James and Bozie gave them a few curious glances. They didn’t ask any questions, though, just made idle conversation about the upcoming game in Dallas until it was time for takeoff.

Auston didn’t love flying, but he’d gotten used to it quickly--  first to long flights across the country– and even the ocean– to play hockey, and now, to the series of quick flights that took them everywhere. Still, he hated takeoff, and tensed up as soon as the plane began to speed down the runway.

"What’s up?" asked Mitch, looking up from his game of Candy Crush.

"Uh– I dunno. Not a fan of planes," Auston said, trying to play it cool.

Mitch nodded, and began to rub small circles over the back of Auston’s hand, which was currently draped over Mitch’s shoulder. It was a comforting motion, and Auston felt himself loosen, until the plane turned hard and Auston felt his breath shorten.

"We’re good, man," Mitch said. "Do you wanna listen to music? You can choose."

"Sure," said Auston, taking out his phone and offering Mitch an earbud. He put on a playlist of calming music, and closed his eyes and tried to focus on that. Soon, the plane was leveling out, and Auston felt himself genuinely relax. It was a fairly long flight, and he had Mitch leaning against him, and the music in his ear was soft and steady–

He jerked awake to an announcement that they would be beginning their descent soon, and when he turned to Mitch, he saw that the same was true for him.

"Oh, look, they’re up," said Willy. "Welcome back."

"Fuck off," Mitch grumbled.

"You two seemed cozy," quipped Brownie.

"I caught a picture of it," said James.

"You guys suck, I wanna go back to sleep," said Mitch.

"When we get to the hotel," promised Auston.

"We switching rooms?" asked Brownie.

"Is that alright? If you don’t wanna, that’s fine," said Mitch.

"Please, give them a room," said Willy, "they can barely go a few hours without cuddling."

"What do you mean?" said James, turning toward Willy and furrowing his brow.

Willy looked at Mitch, who gave a small nod before looking at Auston, who did the same.

"I mean, they’re all, like, lovey-dovey and shit," said Willy.

"You’re just jealous," said Mitch, smiling.

It wasn’t quite like coming out, but it was still a bit nerve-wracking, and Auston was thankful to have Mitch at his side as the guys around them processed what Mitch and Willy had just said.

"Wait, you two– like, are you–" Bozie started, then stopped, unsure of how he wanted to complete the sentence.

"Are you being serious?" said James, looking between them.

Auston smiled and shrugged, and Mitch laughed.

"They’re serious," said Mo.

"You knew?" said Bozie from behind them.

"Only since last night! Naz knew too," responded Mo.

"Really?" Bozie asked, turning to Naz.

"We wanted to talk to Mitch about something, and it sort of just– came out?" Naz said.

"Who else knows?" asked Brownie.

"Uh– Marty," said Mitch.

"Gards," said Auston.

"We had dinner with my mom the other night, so she knows, and she probably told my dad and brother–"

"A couple of friends, and I guess you guys, and I guess the rest of the guys on the team will figure it out? I assumed you guys would tell them," Auston said to Mo.

"We were respecting your privacy," said Mo defensively.

"We were just straight-up cuddling this entire flight," Mitch pointed out. "That’s not how you hide a relationship. I don’t think."

"It isn’t," confirmed Willy.

"Alright, guess Hyman’s my road roomie now," said Brownie. "Wait– that’s a fine, isn’t it? You guys have been sexiling me and Hymie for like, a month now, that’s gotta be a fine."

"Uh– we weren’t– it’s still new," said Auston. "The rest of it was just us hanging out."

"No way," said Brownie, "actually?"

"Yep," said Mitch.

"So the rest of the time you were just– what, kicking us out of our rooms to flirt? That’s still gotta be some kind of fine," said Brownie. "Flirt-exiling infraction. Right?"

"You can’t fine that," protested Auston.

"But wait, seriously,” said Bozie. “Um, Auston, are you–" he began, and Auston turned his head around to look at him. "Are you gay?"

"I… I don’t know." said Auston. "It’s confusing. I don’t know. But I’m probably not– like, I have a boyfriend. I’m good with that."

"Aw, thanks, man," said Mitch, holding his hand out for a fist bump, which Auston reciprocated.

"Alright, we’re gonna have to redefine what’s classified as a finable offense," said Naz. "That one I just can’t tell. It feels like that should be a fine."

"Your face should be a fine," Mitch said.

"Pathetic," said James.

"Your face is pathetic," said Auston, and Mitch smiled at him.

"And they say chivalry is dead," said Willy.

"What can I say, I landed a good one," said Mitch, looking smug and leaning into Auston more.

Auston and Mitch fielded questions and chirps for the rest of their descent. As soon as the touched down, Auston’s phone buzzed with a notification from the team group chat

He unlocked his phone to a picture of him and Mitch asleep earlier in the flight, courtesy of James, with heart emojis and stickers drawn all over it.

_Willy: r they the team parents now_

_Mo: i am offended_

_JVR: lol this is for real btw_

_Hyman: ???_

_Marty: nice, guys! :D_

_Carrick: plot twisttttt_

_Leo: congrats!!!_

_Freddy: yay congratulations!_

_Gards: thats a fine_

_Naz: thats what i said_

_Mitch: fining us is biphobic_

_Carrick: equal opportunity fines_

_Hyman: brownie looks like were roommates forever now_

_Brown: dude they haven’t even sexiled us_

_Brown: they just wanted to spend time alone together in a hotel room as bros_

_Auston: #nobromo #yeshomo_

_Hyman: lol_

_Carrick: lmaoooooo_

_Freddy: haha_

_Mitch: thats my man B)_

"Oh my god, stop flirting in the group chat, you’re right next to each other," James said loudly enough for the entire plane to hear, and everyone laughed as Auston and Mitch turned red.

* * *

 

The win in Dallas the next day felt good, and the team was out to celebrate after. Mitch and Auston were at a table with the rest of the guys, but for the most part, everyone was talking amongst themselves.

"Is where you grew up anything like Dallas?" asked Mitch.

"Not really?" said Auston. "I mean, it’s smaller there, and like, I dunno. Texas is way different from Arizona."

"Was it always this hot, though?"

"Yeah, about," said Auston.

"I can’t believe skating isn’t _more_ popular down here," said Mitch.

"Why?" Auston asked, smiling.

"Like, it’s so fucking hot? How is everyone not looking for a way to constantly cool down?" Mitch said.

Auston laughed. "You get used to the heat. It’s not even that bad right now."

"Yeah, but–"

Mitch’s comment was interrupted by the arrival of some people Bozie knew. Auston and Mitch turned around to see who it was.

"Holy shit," Mitch said, "That’s Benn and Seguin."

It was one thing seeing them in tape, another thing seeing them on ice, and another thing entirely seeing them greeting Bozie like an old friend. Auston had met Tyler at the All Star Game, but that weekend was kind of a blur. He’d never seen Jamie outside of a game, though.

But Bozie was calling them over, so they made their way over, a little in awe as Bozie introduced them.

“Bennie, Seguin, this is Mitch and Matts,” said Bozie, as they all exchanged handshakes.

"We met in LA, right? Nice to see you, man. Good game," Seguin said.

"Yeah, same," said Auston. "Uh, what brings you here?"

Seguin shrugged. "Jamie and Bozak wanted to hang out."

"I dragged him along so he would mope with his dogs all night," said Jamie, smiling.

"You can’t mope when you’re with dogs. Especially my dogs," said Seguin, giving Jamie a playful shove.

"How are the dogs, man?" asked Bozie.

"Excellent," said Seguin, grinning proudly.

"Cash’s new favorite chew toy is my shoe, so that’s going great," said Jamie.

"That’s the highest honor any shoe can achieve," said Seguin, before he turned to Mitch and Auston. "Are you guys dog people?"

Auston shrugged, but Mitch nodded enthusiastically, and Seguin immediately pulled out his phone and began to show Mitch pictures, and they drifted away to talk about dogs.

Auston turned to the conversation that was going between Jamie and Bozie.

"How are things without Jordie?" asked Bozie.

Jamie shrugged. "I mean, it’s weird, you know?"

"Yeah. Living alone, then?" asked Bozie.

"Uh– well," Jamie trailed off, then looked at Auston then back at Bozie. Bozie communicated something to him silently, and Jamie raised an eyebrow. "Tyler’s been staying with me lately. I think– he, uh, might move in soon? I mean, if he wants to."

Oh, thought Auston. _Oh._

It was one thing to know that guys around Auston’s age in the league were also doing stuff with other guys, but it was another thing entirely to hear that like, the two faces of the Dallas Stars franchise were apparently dating, and that it was getting serious.

"So you think he wants to?" asked Bozie.

Jamie shrugged. "Hopefully. There are, like, logistics and stuff, but we’re thinking that this upcoming offseason–" Jamie waved his hand. "We’re gonna– uh, make an announcement."

"Holy shit, man, that’s big," said Bozie, clapping Jamie on the back. "Congrats!"

"Thanks," said Jamie, looking in Tyler’s direction and smiling. "I mean– it’s gotta happen sometime, right?"

"You mean–" said Bozie, then, in a quieter voice, "Like, Matts is cool, right, Matts?" Bozie asked, Auston nodded.

Jamie gave Auston another look. "Yeah, I guess, like– there are so many guys like me and Ty in the league, you know? And we’re happy together, and like, management is on board."

"So you two are like, together-together?" It was the first thing Auston said the entire conversation, and he immediately regretted how fucking awkward he sounded.

"We– yeah," said Jamie. "For a bit."

"Nice," was all Auston could say. He had a lot of questions about that, but instead of asking, he just said "Congrats, man."

"Thanks," Jamie said. "I mean– hopefully, like, it makes things easier for younger guys in the future, you know?"

"Yeah, I really do," Auston said.

“Babe," said Seguin, rejoining the conversation, "Did I hear you telling young Auston here about our epic love story?"

Jamie rolled his eyes. "It’s not an epic love story. It’s a romantic comedy at best."

"Nah, it’s epic," Seguin said.

Mitch’s eyes shot between Jamie and Seguin before he said, "wait, you two are dating?"

Everyone nodded.

"Wait, that’s– oh, wow," said Mitch. "Did not see that coming."

Auston remembered back to the night at the gay bar, and bit his lip to suppress a smirk.

"Yeah, we’re– like, we’re telling the world at large in the offseason," said Seguin.

"Man that’s awesome," said Mitch. "I– like, I also– I have a boyfriend," said Mitch. “So like, yeah, nice, man.”

"Oh, welcome to the club, dude," said Seguin, offering Mitch a fist bump, which was accepted.

"Uh– I’m the boyfriend," offered Auston, and Seguin wordlessly extended his fist to him as well as Benn rolled his eyes fondly.

"They’re grossly cute," said Bozie. "Give you guys a run for your money."

"We have two dogs," said Seguin. "Nothing’s cuter than that."

"That’s true," Mitch agreed.

"Hey," Auston said, turning to Mitch.

"Not as cute as a dog. Close second, though," said Mitch, and Auston took his hand in his, because he wanted to.

"No, you’re right, they’re gross," confirmed Seguin.

"Uh, if you guys have any questions– feel free to like, send us a text or something?" Jamie said. "About like, I don’t know, being gay or bi in the league or whatever, or like, dating teammates, all that kind of stuff.”

"Thanks, man," Auston said, earnestly.

"Yeah, that’s really cool of you," Mitch said, nodding.

The rest of the night passed with them talking, mostly about Marshall and Cash, because Seguin had a talent for working his dogs into any conversation. They teased Bozie about being the lone straight guy in the conversation, and the other guys from the team stop by and exchanged pleasantries as well. Seguin and Benn took off after a bit, Tyler’s arm around Jamie’s shoulder, and the rest of the group dispersed quickly after.

Auston and Mitch shared a cab on the way back to the hotel, Mitch’s head on Auston’s shoulder the entire time.

They got back to the room and got ready to sleep before getting cozy on one of the hotel beds.

"That was... unexpected? But cool," said Auston to Mitch. "I mean, the Benn and Seguin stuff."

"Yeah, definitely unexpected," said Mitch. He pursed his lips for a second, and then said, "Uh, I sort of... had a bet? On Benn?"

"What?" said Auston. "With who? About what?"

"Strome," said Mitch. "Uh, remember the whole... when Benn tweeted about... you know. The bunch mox thing?"

"Yeah?" said Auston, and– oh, that tweet made a lot more sense to him, looking back. "Wait–"

"Yeah, so after that, Dyls was like, convinced it was a gay thing. Like, a secret coming out. And I was like, bullshit, there’s no way. So, uh, we made a bet, that if anything ever came out about him being into dudes, I’d owe him 5 bucks," said Mitch. "Ugh, I don’t want to pay it."

"You have the money," said Auston.

"It’s the principle, though," said Mitch.

"The principle of what?"

"My flawless gaydar, obviously," said Mitch.

"I think we can both agree that your gaydar is incredibly flawed," Auston pointed out, and Mitch shoved him. "Call ’em like I see ’em, sorry."

"You’re supposed to support me unconditionally," Mitch whined.

"You’re right, sorry, you’re perfect and your gaydar has never been wrong, ever, in a million years," said Auston, and Mitch nodded triumphantly at that.

"I mean– wait!" said Mitch, perking up suddenly. "We also bet on steers and queers!"

"Steers and queers?" asked Auston.

"That Seguin tweet? From when he got traded to Dallas? Something about steers and queers being the only things in Texas and he’s not a cow?" said Mitch. "Do you remember that?"

Auston shook his head.

"Well," Mitch said, "it happened, and I bet Stromer that Seguin was into dudes, like, right after the whole bunch mox bet thing, so I don’t have to pay him shit!" said Mitch triumphantly, and he looked so pleased with himself.

"Thank god your finances are secure," said Auston. "Hey, remember when you said Jamie Benn has a straight vibe?"

"I– oh. Oh shit," said Mitch, "Bozie told him about that."

"Yep," Auston said, smiling. "So, in conclusion, your gaydar fucking sucks."

"You fucking suck," Mitch muttered.

"You like that I suck," Auston said, and Mitch snorted.

"Wow, so smooth," said Mitch, and Auston rolled over to straddle Mitch.

"You wanna?" asked Auston.

Mitch pretended to consider it for a moment before smiling and giving an enthusiastic "yes."

* * *

 

**Epilogue:**

"This is unfair," Mitch whined. "Matts is awful at video games."

"Yeah, he really is," said Strome.

"Gay hockey chel tourney isn’t about winning," Auston said.

"You’re just saying that because you guys are losing," McDavid said. "Jeez, I’m embarrassed for you. You’re really awful."

"You know, real Jesus was apparently a nice dude, but hockey Jesus is kind of a dick," said Auston.

It was all old chirps; it was the offseason, and so far they’d managed to get together a handful of times for video games and an unspoken competition to see who could be a cuter couple, which was why Mitch was currently sitting in Auston’s lap feeding him popcorn, and Strome’s arms were wrapped around Connor from behind.

All of their phones buzzed at once, which meant there was hockey news, so Mitch was the one who checked his phone.

"Oh, Benn and Seguin," said Mitch.

"What about them?" asked Connor.

"They’re engaged," Mitch read.

Auston paused the game. "Wait, they’re engaged? Holy shit."

Mitch looked as surprised as Auston felt, but Connor was quiet.

It was Dylan who spoke first."Marns, does this mean you owe me 5 bucks?" he said, and Mitch rolled his eyes.

"No, we had two bets, remember? Steers and queers? Also, way to focus on the big news here, buddy," said Mitch.

"Oh yeah. Well, good for them," Stromer said.

"Good– good for us, too," Connor pointed out, less nonchalant than his boyfriend. "Or– I guess, you guys more. Because they’re, like, on the same team and stuff."

"Yeah," said Mitch. "Wow, they actually did it."

"Did you guys know about this?" asked Connor.

"Yeah, they told us down in Dallas," said Auston. "Bozie knew, I think. They didn’t tell us they were engaged, though."

"Maybe that’s new?" said Mitch. "Aw, he’s gonna have to choose a best man."

"Which?" asked Strome.

"Segs," Mitch said. "I’m assuming it’s gonna be either Marshall or Cash, but it can’t be both, right?"

"You can’t have a dog as a best man," said Connor.

"Not with that attitude," said Strome.

"Marshall will be best man, Cash will be ring bearer," said Auston.

"Good call. I’m gonna text that to him," said Mitch.

"Since when do you text with Tyler Seguin?" Dylan said.

"I have his number," said Connor. "I could text him right now. Actually I should, like, congratulate him."

"Does he know about–" Auston asked, and McDavid shook his head.

"I mean– you can, if you want," said Strome, and McDavid looked at him.

"Actually?" asked Connor. "Like, about... us?"

"Yeah, it’s– yeah," was all Strome said, and there was clearly something behind it, but it seemed private, so Auston didn’t dwell on it.

Connor nodded, and started drafting a text.

"Wait," said Mitch, and Connor stopped typing.. "We should just– group photo, yeah? C’mon."

Mitch opened up the front facing camera, and Auston hooked his chin over Mitch’s shoulder. Connor leaned in and smiled, and Strome rested his head on his shoulder.

Mitch took the photo. "Aww," said Mitch, "we’re all so cute." He paused for a second. "We’re cuter."

"Bullshit," said Strome, and Mitch began to type. Auston read the conversation over his shoulder.

_Mitch: [image attached]_

_Mitch: way 2 make ur announcement in the middle of gay hockey double date night_

_Seguin: awwwwwww baby gays of the nhl_

_Seguin: all drafted so high_

_Mitch: u kno what they say: if you can play, ur probably gay_

_Mitch: honestly though congrats man, way 2 not tell us u were engaged_

_Seguin: he proposed yesterday!!!_

_Seguin: [2 images attached]_

The picture was of Jamie, on one knee, but instead of a ring box, he was holding a jersey. The second photo showed that the jersey read "Seguin 14."

"Holy shit, that’s cute. That’s the cutest fucking thing in the world," said Mitch.

"Do you think Marshall and Cash are going to wear tuxedos?" said Auston.

"Nevermind, _That’s_ the cutest thing in the world," said Mitch.

"Your face is the cutest thing in the world," said Auston.

"Yep," said Mitch, smiling.

* * *

Later, after Connor and Dylan left, Auston and Mitch were hanging lazily around Auston’s place, Mitch sprawled out on the couch with his legs in Auston’s lap.

“Do you think Bozie’s going to the wedding?” asked Mitch.

“Like, probably, right?” Auston said. “They’re old friends.”

“Think we’ll snag an invite?” he asked. “Do you think he could get us one?”

Auston shrugged. “Ask Bozie,” he said.

“I will,” said Mitch, typing away, and a few seconds later, Auston’s phone buzzed.

_Mitch: yo bozie can u get us into the wedding of the year_

_Mitch: pls its for gay rights_

_Bozak: u guys r probably invited?_

_Bozak: if not i’ll see if u can dogsit during the ceremony_

_Naz: what if i want to dogsit during the ceremony_

_Mitch: no im bi, i call dogsitter and my plus one is matts_

_Naz: do dogsitters get to bring dates_

_Auston: yes_

"Hey–” said Mitch, and Auston looked up from his phone to see Mitch looked at him. He sounded nervous. “Uh, there was something I wanted to ask you about,"

"What’s up?" asked Auston, a sinking feeling growing in his stomach.

"I– it’s not anything bad! Don’t worry!" Mitch said, readjusting until he was sitting up on the couch. "I was just– uh, Marty’s proposing, soon. And, like, she’s probably gonna say yes."

"Alright," said Auston, unsure of where Mitch was going with this.

"And also, like, if we get invited to Benn and Seguin’s wedding– I, uh, want to like, go with you?" he said.

Auston blinked. "Are you just asking me to be your date?"

"I mean– well, yes, but also, uh, you know, there would be a lot of people, and– I don’t know. I’d want to like, dance with you and stuff, and– we’d sort of have to. Like. Be out."

"We are mostly out," said Auston. "Like, people who know us know."

"Yeah, but we aren’t like, teaming up with You Can Play or using pride tape or any of the other, I dunno, gay athlete shit," said Mitch. "Like– it’s just, kind of different, and we don’t have to, but– I kind of think we should make some sort of announcement?"

"Like, what, a press conference?" said Auston.

"No, not like, to the media, but– maybe like, a tweet, you know? To be like, fully public."

"A tweet," Auston said. "Or Instagram?"

"Oh shit, yeah, I like that one," said Mitch. "We should talk to management, and like, our agents about it. But, uh, yeah, if we do– do you want to go to the wedding, or weddings, with me?"

"Of course," said Auston.

* * *

 

"What are you captioning yours?" said Mitch, looking over Auston’s shoulder.

"You’ll see," said Auston.

"You know what mine is," whined Mitch. "I don’t want mine to be lamer than yours."

"That’s just a given," said Auston, and Mitch shoved him.

"Let me see," said Mitch.

"No, I– I haven’t figured it out yet," said Auston, a little embarrassed. He had the perfect picture, and had spent a considerable amount of time editing it, but the caption just wasn’t coming to him.

"It’s not a big deal," said Mitch. "Just– I dunno, we’re keeping it light, right?"

"Well, yeah," said Auston. "But I don’t wanna seem– I dunno."

"You’re just scared," said Mitch. "Just caption it like you normally caption photos."

"How do I normally caption photos?" asked Auston.

"You keep it short and mysterious," said Mitch, which, well, wasn’t untrue.

"Does that really work for this?" asked Auston, concerned.

"Yeah, it’s like, just a normal photo for you to post, you know?"

"I guess," said Auston, even though it wasn’t, at all.

"Just– how about this?"

Mitch grabbed Auston’s phone and typed something, then handed it back to Auston.

All it said was "boyf," all lowercase, no emojis. It was... probably exactly how Auston would caption it, yeah.

"Alright, yeah, I like it," said Auston.

The picture was one James had taken in his endless quest to post pictures of them in finable positions in the group chat. They had been waiting outside for the bus, and Auston had sat down on the pavement. Mitch had lay down on the pavement and put his head in Auston’s lap. In the picture they were both laughing, and it was sunny. Auston had posted it in black and white.

Mitch, meanwhile, had elected to post a short video from the first gay hockey chel tournament, and it was Auston losing to Strome spectacularly, with Mitch saying "Babe, you’re awful" from behind the camera, and Auston turning around to smile at him. He’d captioned it "When your boyfriend is   on ice but  off ice," because he was the worst, but Auston had begrudgingly admitted that it was kind of funny and agreed to it. Mostly because Mitch was incredibly proud of it, and Auston was, still, an incredibly weak man in the face of his boyfriend’s smile.

“Count of three?” said Mitch, and Auston nodded. He grabbed Mitch’s hand.

“Let’s do it,” Auston said.

“Alright. Three… two… one… share,” said Mitch, and it was a bit surreal for Auston as he tapped his phone and watched it go up. It took about half a second for the first notification to come in, and there it was, they were out, and Auston felt a wave of relief wash over him.

"Posted," said Mitch, as they set their phones to Do Not Disturb mode. "Now the whole world will know that you suck my dick, _and_ that you suck at chel."

“Have I ever told you that I hate you?” said Auston. "Also, we should really go, pictures start in half an hour."

"Maybe we should have waited til after the wedding," said Mitch. "Would’ve been a good picture. We look so fucking good in these suits."

" _You_ look really good in that suit," Auston confessed. "Hey, do you think we could–"

"Stop, or else I honestly will go down on you right this second, and we really shouldn’t be late. And you can’t turn up to Marty’s wedding with a ton of hickeys," said Mitch. "That’s rude, and probably a fine."

"Okay, fine," said Auston. "But after?"

"Of course," said Mitch. "I already booked us a room at the venue."

"It’s a twenty minute drive from my place," said Auston.

"Well, yeah, but you’re wearing _that._ You can’t expect me to last the entire ceremony _and_ reception."

"Okay, glad we’re on the same page," said Auston. "Come on, though, I want to show off my super hot boyfriend at his best friend’s wedding."

"Alright, alright," said Mitch. "You love me, I get it."

"You got that right," said Auston, leaning in for one more kiss.

**Author's Note:**

> More comprehensive warnings: A character shares anxieties/fears about coming out at several points throughout the story, none of which are realized, and he generally has a positive experience coming out to people. At one point, a character is on a plane and describes shortness of breath/anxious thoughts during takeoff, but it does not escalate into a full-on panic attack, and he is no longer distressed once the plane reaches cruising altitude. If there are any things you think should be warned, please let me know in the comments!
> 
> I have so many feelings about these characters and this universe. There are also so many people on the team who don't get mentioned at all, but like, whatever, we only see a very small portion of their team/group chat. So sorry about like, all the Leafs who don't get mentioned/ only get mentioned once or twice. 
> 
> Here are some FAQ that no one asked for:
> 
> Who are the cool beer pong lesbians?: Listen I want to date both of these girls tbh. Ali probably does roller derby on the weekends and Margaret is a lacrosse player/the president of the LGBTQ+ athletes club on campus. They're definitely a power couple. 
> 
> Are you gonna make these playlists?: maybe! Who knows! It's almost midterms so it might be a great way to procrastinate. I feel like Mitch plays a lot of Ariana Grande. 
> 
> Were Mitch and Dylan dating?: NEITHER OF THEM KNOWS. Like, probably? They talk about it every time they get drunk and Connor and Auston roll their eyes. 
> 
> What was the guy in the club doing?: In my head, he's just an incredibly polite man who spilled a drink on a dude and wanted to help. Mitch was super freaked about being separated from his group, so the guy just kinda stuck by his side and talked about his boyfriend and their dogs. He actually recognized Auston when he walked in, then made the connection to Mitch soon afterwards, but he kept his mouth shut about it all and never told a soul about the time he spilled a drink on one of the star rookies of the Toronto Maple Leafs in a gay bar in Tampa, and then saw Auston fucking Matthews in the bathroom.
> 
> Why was Mitch using a fake name?: I know this is explained in the story, but like... Mitch is fucking terrified. Something he doesn't mention in his bit about not wanting to go to a gay bar is that he doesn't know what would happen if he were caught, and he wants to prepare for the worst. Would they be able to sell the story to some tabloid, or would they just not care? Even if it's not a big deal... I dunno, there are a lot of ways in which being outed is scary. Especially if you're kinda famous. A fake name is at least some form of protection against that. Oh, and the detail about a hockey player using the fake name Stanley is a bit from "Morning To Wake You" by oflights. 
> 
> How did Auston come out to his mom and dad?: Well, he's pretty nonchalant. He just mentions that he's seeing someone, and that that someone is Mitch, and they're pretty low key and "oh, that's wonderful, sweetheart!" about it. Mitch probably charms the Matthews family dog when he visits them in Arizona and instantly wins them over. 
> 
> Is Auston gay or bi?: If asked, Auston will say queer or maybe bi (maybe pan, if he ever hears someone describe it)? He isn't straight, for sure, and like, he makes gay jokes with the rest of em, but the best word for what he is isn't really out there yet. Mostly he just shrugs and says that he's a man dating a man, and that's that.
> 
> How was the Benn/Seguin wedding?: Extremely tasteful, Marshall and Cash had an excellent time. And of course Auston and Mitch were invited! The entire thing was in victory green, and Auston and Mitch both wore blue suits. 
> 
> What about Marty's wedding?: Much less green, and Mitch and Auston did look really good in all the pictures. Willy posts a video of them slow dancing on Instagram and TSN reposts it and it kind of blows up. 
> 
> Do Mitch and Auston get married?: What? No! Of course not, they're so young! Auston definitely doesn't think about it when the two of them are on the dance floor and Mitch is looking in his eyes. Nope. They're young. Even if Auston thinks Mitch is the best thing to ever happen to him. (It's okay, Mitch is kind of thinking it too. It's a wedding, alright?) 
> 
> Do Connor and Dylan go public eventually?: Oh, sure they do, but it's a gradual thing. Instagram stories that get fangirls talking, then eventually that get other people talking, and by the time they come out, everyone sort of pretends to have known they've been dating the entire time, so there's no like, spotlight on it. 
> 
> Anything else you wanna share?: Yeah eventually Mitch and Auston move in together and adopt a dog, like, a really big one, and it likes to sit on them, it's great, they love it.


End file.
